On October 9, 2024 in the “Arena Sofia” the gala premiere of the film “Gundy– the legend of love", which began to be screened in cinemas in Bulgaria from October 18. So far, it has been watched by more than 500,000 people and is the most watched and highest grossing film in the country since 1989. It received many positive and enthusiastic reviews and there were several interviews in the media with Asparukhov's wife Velichka Markova – Lita, whose love is told in the film.
This is what it says Boncho Asenov for "May 24"
I won't watch the movie. Because I realized that it tended to tell how the “spooky“ State security harassed Gundy and the family and tried unsuccessfully to recruit him as an agent. And how the young operative who failed to recruit him was fired because of it. I understand that this is not only a biographical film, but also a fiction film, and its writers have fallen for the already formulaic portrayal of State Security as a “insidious“, “brutal system“ that hunted, imprisoned, abused and killed without mercy. judge and sentence the people en masse. This is a familiar cliché. After September 9, 1944, in films, in books, in the media, one of their constant heroes was also the “fascist State Security and Police”, presented in a similar way.
I won't watch it either because of Velichka Markova's claims that “The system in Bulgaria was terrible at that time”, that “Georgi lived here in a cage, and not a golden one” and “… I can say the system was disgusting”. And that if they had stayed with Gundy to play abroad (he was invited by the football club “Milan“ to play in Italy, but refused) “… our families would not exist here. The system would destroy them”. “It was a very dark time. A healthy hand that tells you what books to read, what movies to watch…“. And because of her claims that they “were eavesdropped and persecuted by the DS”, that after his death “the communists forbade him to wear black and tore up the obituaries”, and “the blows of power fell on us”.
I won't watch it either because of some media's attempts to portray his years as a time of “…a terrifying atmosphere and an even more terrifying reality of censorship, prohibition, grayness, sameness and identical awfulness”, and Gundy was like “ ;…a solid wall against which the whole ideology of non-freedom breaks“.
I have no intention of opposing these trends that run through and through the film. But as a former employee of the State Security, who from 1967 to 1992 was in this system, I would like to express my gratitude to the authors of the film: screenwriter Emil Boev, director Dimitar Dimitrov and producers Ivan Hristov, Andrey Arnaudov and Vasil Bulyanski. that they created this biographical feature film about Gundy's love affair with Lita and his sporting successes at that time as a football player. Because both characters of the film were my colleagues – State Security officials at the time.
Velichka Markova was an officer in the 12th department of the Second Main Directorate, which was responsible for border-passage control and served the checkpoints of Bulgaria. I have seen her in office, but all I can say about her is that she was a truly beautiful woman. I know that she studied at the school in Simeonovo. I was told by her management colleagues that after Gundi's death she was transferred to work at the Bulgarian National Television.
Georgi Asparuhov – Gundi, after the unification of the football teams “Spartak“ with “Levski” in January 1969, together with other football players, he was assigned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and specifically to State Security. He has a service card of an employee in the DS and this is recognized for his future retirement as “first category seniority”. In the official announcement of the “Labor case” from July 1, 1971, it is said about the accident: “On June 30, 1971, in a car accident, in the performance of their official duty, our distinguished football players, the meritorious masters of sports, the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Major Georgi Asparuhov and Major Nikola Kotkov, died… The pilgrimage will be on July 2 this year. from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the representative stadium of the "Levski" company, "Poduyane" district. The funeral will take place the same day at 12 o'clock at the Sofia Cemetery.
Gundy was not an operative, he was not engaged in agent-operational or other work, he was a football player, the best in the football history of Bulgaria. It is known to us, and also to the public, that he was a favorite of the then Minister of Internal Affairs, General–Colonel Angel Solakov, who patronized him. He is the organizer of the 150,000-strong pilgrimage to the stadium, even at one point he personally led the procession with a megaphone in hand. He shared in front of his entourage (and this reached Todor Zhivkov) his opinion “ that more people participated spontaneously and unorganized at the funeral than at all organized rallies, including Todor Zhivkov's, that Bulgaria in its entire history does not remember such an event. ;. A month after that, Angel Solakov was removed as a minister by Todor Zhivkov, and one of the charges for this was his bias towards football and that at the funeral of Asparukhov and Kotkov, they were “raised by Angel Solakov as idols, and only the party can raise someone to idol“. Solakov himself in his autobiographical book “The Chairman of the CDS tells…“ (1993, p. 51) writes of his cordial relationship with Gundy. I will quote it verbatim: “There are few people who know about our relationship with Asparuhov. I loved this man purely, in a human way. I loved him above all for his modesty, humanity, radiance. I loved him for the high virtues with which he was endowed by nature and which he radiated wherever he was. He had no “adversaries”. His biggest opponent was CSKA and CSKA striker Yakimov, but he was also his biggest friend! I remember Yakimov at Gundy's funeral. He was at the head of the funeral procession and tearfully placed flowers on the grave of his unforgettable friend. I put flowers too.“ By the way, I was also on the pilgrimage, together with my colleagues from the Sixth Department, but spontaneously, without being ordered to do so.
And Asparuhov had another patron. This is General Boyan Velinov, then deputy head of the Sixth Administration, who had a weakness for football and specifically for Levski-Spartak. At least that's what we knew in management. An expression of this weakness of his is the appointment of several famous football players from “Levski-Spartak”, after the termination of their football careers, as operatives in the management.
But back to the Gundy movie. This extraordinary interest in it is due not only because it is a well-made film, and not so much because of the love story, but above all because of the nostalgia of these viewers – both old and young. Nostalgia for the glorious time of the successes of Bulgarian sports and specifically of Bulgarian football, which were personified then, and to this day, by Gundi. This nostalgia is born from the comparison that is made between the state of football then and now. Remember that our footballers participated in the World Cups in Chile (1962), England (1966), Mexico (1970), FRG (1974), Mexico (1986), that the socialist generations of footballers led us to fourth place in the USA in 1994 and qualified Bulgaria for the World Championship in 1998. in France, and for twenty-five years our country has not been able to qualify and participate in the world and European football championships. Where are today's Georgi Asparuhov and Hristo Stoichkov. Where are the followers of dozens, no, hundreds of footballers from all over the country, who played and grew up as such in “that time”, who were idolized by the fans. They have already become legends, which are constantly written about and talked about with sadness in the media. I am not surprised by the state of our football with this policy of the state, of the clubs, and to some extent of the BFS. That it, Bulgarian football, has long ceased to be Bulgarian, after foreigners began to arrive en masse in the teams. Our multiple champion “Ludogorets“, and other teams, including “Levski“ and CSKA sometimes take to the field entirely or with predominantly foreign players, this is not a Bulgarian team and football. How can there be success when only children, youth and youth teams are talked about, but in reality they are neglected in the men's teams. Isn't the leadership of “Levski” swore he would build his team only from his juniors, what happened to that promise. Until this vicious practice is stopped and the playing foreigners are reduced to two or three in a team, there will be no success in Bulgarian football. Probably there won't be these financial problems that most of the football clubs suffer from, if the state and the municipalities stand behind them. Of course, there are other reasons why our national team falls from the weakest teams in Europe, but I will stop there, there are specialists for these explanations. This pain of mine is the pain of millions of football fans. And they go to watch the film to remember or get to know this glorious football time in the history of Bulgarian football. Which created Bulgaria's two best footballers of all time – Asparuhov and then Stoichkov.
So I'm thinking, should I still go see the film to admire and enjoy the successes of Bulgarian football from that period?
Source: 24may.bg
Boncho Assenov was born in 1946. in Pernik. He completed a three-year course at the Higher Special School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law at the University of St. Kliment Ohridski“. From 1970 to 1992. works in the Sixth Department of State Security and as a teacher of special disciplines at the Higher Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1996 – 1997 is an expert in the Directorate “Religions“ at the Council of Ministers. From 1998 to 2016 is a teacher at the "Chernorizets Hrabar" Free University of Varna. He gave lectures at the New Bulgarian University, and in recent years – at Plovdiv University “Paisiy Hilendarski“. Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Sciences, Professor.
He is the author of 28 scientific, popular science and documentary books on problems of religion, nationalism and the protection of national security, two local history books and six collections of short stories.