A Woman Aged 33 (Bulgarian: Една жена на 33 [Edna zhena na trideset i tri] is a 1982 Bulgarian drama film.
Minka Stoeva, a secretary in Sofia, Bulgaria, is trying to get through life among various problems, the likes of which can happen to a divorced single mother her age in socialist Bulgaria: an unruly child, the child's deadbeat father, an affair, workplace slander, sleazy coworkers and political grovelling. But she has to come out of it all without giving in to the pressure.
Tropes:
- Batman Gambit: When Minka asks her professor to become her referee so she can join the Communist party, no matter that she's just refused to take part in his schemes or that his wife is suspecting (wrongly) an affair between Minka and the professor:Minka: I'm only asking you for one thing. Become my referee for the party.
[...]
Anev: I don't intend to admit before the entire institute that I have a relationship with you. [...]
Minka: Then I'll have to admit having one with you.
Anev: I'm not affected by any strong-arming.
Minka: Your wife's been waiting for me to confess for two years. [...] (whips out a pair of Cool Shades) Shall I pour you some more tea? - Every Man Has His Price: When pressured by her boss, Professor Anev, to keep quiet about everyone's schemes, and tempted with an easy thesis defense, she pulls her own tricks:Anev: Stoeva, for your own good you should keep quiet.
Minka: Hey... I'm not that dumb. If I can only find two others to confirm, I'll bust all your asses, but I won't find anyone. They all get money that way and they're all in the game! They're afraid you won't make them associatenote and assistant professorsnote ! Dora alone is working honestly. But you'll kick her out because she isn't in your mafia, right?
Anev: Listen, Stoeva, you have a thesis to do. You'll come do it at our institute. I'll give you Spas as a supervisor. You're our girl, we know each other. If all goes well, we might even grant you a scholarship.- Faustian Rebellion: She refuses.Minka: I'm not playing in that combination.
Anev: Better keep your mouth shut.
Minka: Oh, dunno about that. Mom, when I tell her, says "Let 'em lick and smear, they won't be doing it for long - ain't only them at that institute!" But I won't leave you alone. I won't try for an associate professor, so that I need to keep my mouth shut!
- Faustian Rebellion: She refuses.
- Glamorous Single Mother: Minka is quite an attractive woman.
- Gold Digger: Minka's coworkers openly brag about being like this.
- Parents as People: From the perspective of Minka's daughter.
- Psycho Ex: Angel, Minka's divorced husband and Hristina's father.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He threatens to "get acquainted" with his ex-wife's new boyfriend.
- Disappeared Dad: Minka wants nothing to do with him and wants to have him evicted from their hometown. Hrisi refuses to treat him as a father.
- Domestic Abuse: He slaps Minka when she refuses to tell him about her new affair.
- The Grovel: He comes back begging for his ex to take him back because it's hard living alone.
- Redemption Rejection: Minka's uncle, a law enforcement officer, tells her Angel refuses to correct his behavior, no matter how much he gets sentenced to public labor.
- Sex with the Ex: When he comes to her desperate and she's just been dumped.
- Screw the Rules, They Broke Them First!: A staple of the story is that in a corrupt state, everyone has to break or at least bend the rules to get by. For example, Minka got her flat at the capital because had connections at the residence administration who arranged it for her despite her not having a right to it as a working student. It's still justified because she's struggling to make a good living and is otherwise an honest worker, while near everyone else commits more serious violations for less necessary personal gains.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She doesn't get one, aside from a fling with her friend's husband who then dumped her when he realized he loved his wife.
- Sleeping with the Boss: Minka is accused of that, but it's not true. Her boss knows about the rumor but doesn't do much because he knows he's safe. The boss' wife fully believes it and keeps harassing Minka, then a donos (an anonymous falsified report) is sent to compromise her.
- Social Climber: Downplayed. Minka aspires to become member of the Communist partynote and does rely on her working class originnote , but other than that she wants to get there on her academic merits and won't push anyone out of her way to do so; besides, she only wants to be able to afford a decent living as a single mother (she was threatened with expulsion as a working student who acquired her flat in a way that's illegitimate, if a petty transgression), not milk money via Nepotism like she knows others do.
- You Need to Get Laid: Minka complains about having spent eight months without that.
