Aesop

Bulgarian director Rangel Valčanov found himself in hot water in his homeland upon the release of the Bulgarian-Czechoslovak co-production Ezop (Aesop, 1969), a dramatised parable about the need for freedom. Somewhat paradoxically he then moved on to Czechoslovakia to make two films with Czech actors during the “normalisation” period: Tvář pod maskou (The Masked Face, 1970) and Šance (Chance, 1971). However, his eclectic film Ezop was not seen in Czech cinemas until 1990. The script is a stylised “biography” of the ancient fabulist – a slave who, in Valčanov’s interpretation, openly opposes the iniquities of his masters. The vital and witty slave yearns for freedom, embodied by the beautiful slave girl Rhodopis. Unfortunately she is the property of the powerful Amazise, who acts to ensure Aesop’s removal... The film’s cameraman is Andrei Barla, the music is the work of Zdeněk Liška and Ester Krumbachová designed the costumes. Several roles were played by Czech actors.