Plot
War in Georgia, Apkhazeti region in 1990. An Estonian man Ivo has stayed behind to harvest his crops of tangerines. In a bloody conflict at his door, a wounded man is left behind, and Ivo is forced to take him in.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 8.6/10 (12,115 voted)
Critic's Score: 73/100
Director: Zaza Urushadze
Stars: Lembit Ulfsak, Elmo Nüganen, Giorgi Nakashidze
Storyline
War in Georgia, Apkhazeti region 1992: local Apkhazians are fighting to break free from Georgia. Estonian village between the mountains has become empty, almost everyone has returned to their homeland, only 2 men have stayed: Ivo and Margus. But Margus will leave as soon as he has harvested his crops of tangerines. In a bloody conflict in their miniature village wounded men are left behind, and Ivo is forced to take them in. But they are from opposite sides of the war. This is touching anti-war story about Estonians who find themselves in the middle of someone else's war. How do they handle it? How do the enemies act under third-party roof?
Cast: Lembit Ulfsak -
Ivo
Elmo Nüganen -
Margus
Giorgi Nakashidze -
Ahmed
Misha Meskhi -
Niko
(as Mikheil Meskhi)
Raivo Trass -
Juhan
Country: Estonia, Georgia
Language: Estonian, Russian, Georgian
Release Date: 17 April 2015
Filming Locations: Guria, Georgia
Box Office Details
Budget: €650,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $4,600
(USA)
(17 April 2015)
Gross: $17,060
(USA)(24 April 2015)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
The movie is dedicated to Levan Abashidze. A well known Georgian actor who was killed in Abkhazian war See more »
Quotes:
User Review
Author:
Rating: 10/10
This film is flawless and one of the highlights of the Montreal World
Film Festival 2014. It also was recognized with many international
prizes in Europe, North America and even Israel. It captures the
incoherence and inhumanity of war from the point of view of innocent
civilians and of dehumanized soldiers. The pace and plot are crisp,
compact and conscious-elevating with a spectacular, yet simple
screenplay. The cinematography and music match and enhance the
emotional and philosophical human drama. The acting from the all-male
cast is poignant and powerful in its restraint. Zaza Urushadze's text
comes to life like a play in this sometimes claustrophobic confine
which only heightens the inherent tension between the protagonists. The
directing does however balance this with the sad beauty of rural
Abkhazia conflict zone. The simple sets set the mood and this movie is
shooting for the moon.
Alexander Kuranov returns as the editor after teaming up with Zaza
Urushadze for the excellent multiple story Three Houses (2008) and gets
every cut and emotion right. The dialogue, like the film, is raw,
unpredictable, mysterious and profound. It brings you the very core of
humanity's hopes and fears. The theme of pointless war has rarely been
portrayed so perfectly. It surpasses even seminal South Korean The
Front Line (2011) and does so in a intellectual and emotionally
effective way. Beyond that it is a human drama about people stuck in a
conflict and how they decide to deal with it and each other. Is there a
glimpse of hope or some guidelines we can learn from?
Be sure that I will be looking for Zaza's previous and next work. This
is cinema at it's best.
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