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Reviews
Rise of Empires: Ottoman (2020)
Mesmerizing and thought-provoking
I am a Macedonian, so I was really interested in this series. The reason is that the Macedonian people were amongst the ones who were the longest enslaved within the Ottoman empire: more than 500 years! I was quite impressed by both the directing and the acting. There are a few things that could have been explored at a deeper level though. Although it is clear that the Janissaries played a decisive role in the conquest of Constantinople, the writers could have explained better their origin. It is shortly mentioned that the Janissaries came predominantly from the Slavic world, but the writers fail to explain the amazing cruelty behind the recruitment of these soldiers. The stories and songs about the "tax in blood" are an integral part of the Macedonian history and national conscience: every village was obliged to give some of their new-born males as a tax to the Turkish authorities. Macedonian mothers were often mutilating their own children to avoid being taken by the Turks and trained as Janissaries. And this was going on for centuries. Other stories about the Turkish cruelty are also abundant in our traditional storytelling.
On the positive side, it should have been mentioned that the legacy of Mehmed II survived for a long time. And so did his ideas about an empire in which different religions would co-exist. There were no systematic efforts by the Turks to convert and assimilate the Christian Orthodox: this is the only reason why I am a Christian Orthodox today although most of my ancestors lived under rulers of Islamic religion. This is probably the reason for the friendly relations between Macedonia and Turkey nowadays, despite more than a half-century of slavery by the Macedonian people. Interestingly, the Macedonian identity and right for self-determination is nowadays under a heavy attack by its Christian Orthodox neighbors, who show much less tolerance than Mehmed II.
Najdolgiot pat (1976)
A masterpiece of the Macedonian cinematography
One of the best Macedonian films ever! It depicts the epic struggle of the Macedonian people for freedom and independence, which continues to the present day. Petre M. Andreevski, Branko Gapo, and Risto Siskov got together and made up the dream team of the Macedonian cinematography. Andreevski was actually one of the best Macedonian authors; his novel Pirej is considered one of the most important works written in the Macedonian language. Both the movie and the novel are a must see/read for anyone who would like to learn more about the Macedonians and their perseverance through history and nowadays. The main actor, Risto Siskov, was the best that Macedonia could ever offer in any regard. He plays brilliantly the role of the Turkish officer, Caus; ironically, in real life he was sentenced to prison because of his fight for the Macedonian independence and dignity, and he died subsequently at age 46.