Brotherhood shines in Georgian antiwar film
By Pablo Suarez
Oscar-nominated Tangerines is a mix of stunning visuals and political correctness
POINTS: 7
It’s 1992 and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia is warring with Abkhazia. The conflict has forced almost all Estonians to return to their homeland, but a few still remain despite the dire circumstances. Among them, there’s Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak), an introverted grandfather who makes wooden crates in his workshop just outside his humble abode in a quiet village in a mountain valley. He needs to make enough crates to contain the season’s crop of tangerines of his neighbour Margus (Elmo Nuganen), who has to collect as much money as possible in order to go back to Estonia. Both Ivo’s and Margus’ families returned to their homeland when the war began.
One day, they get caught in a confrontation between Georgian soldiers and Chechen mercenaries who fight for Abkhazian separatists backed by Russia. Only two men survive (one from each side) though they are seriously wounded. So Ivo allows them to stay in his home until they get better. Ahmed (Giorgi Nakhashidze) is a Chechen mercenary whereas Niko (Mikheil Meskhi) is Georgian. Ahmed swears he will kill Niko in no time, but Ivo makes him promise that he won’t do it under his roof. Ahmed is a man of his word, so he will keep his promise.
During the period of convalescence that ensues, Niko and Ahmed maintain a tense relationship with some violent outbursts. But Ivo is the man who calls the shots and so he orders them to calm down. Unexpectedly (or not), this truce eventually gives way to a more peaceful coexistence. At the same time, Margus is worried that the soldiers who told him they’d buy his tangerines may not show up at all. So the crop will be wasted, and clearly it’s the symbolical aspect what matters the most.
First and foremost, Tangerines, written and directed by Zaza Urushadze and Oscar nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2013, is extremely well-shot. Cinematography is startlingly unobtrusive in interiors and subtly expressive in exteriors. So realistic environments are thus rendered with alluring transparency. Its mise-en-scene is theatrical, but in a good way — as opposite of being staged for the camera. Much of the film transpires inside Ivo’s house and the narrative is very effective in exposing its major and minor subjects via a carefully constructed script that neatly ties all its notions together — perhaps a bit too neatly and not leaving room for ambiguity or contradictions, which are often the film’s drawbacks.
Second, the ensemble acting is to be praised from beginning to end. Since Ivo is arguably the richest character who articulates the entire drama, his performance is the one with most nuances, more substance, eloquent restraint, and a sense of mystery as regards his most profound feelings. Nonetheless, the three other actors sink their teeth in their characters as well and so stereotypes are eschewed. An air of familiarity and brotherhood flows among the four men and their conversations, for the most part, ring true.
Third, and this is when things start getting muddy, the film’s ideological angle — which is precisely what makes Tangerines what it is — is often too politically correct, rather naïve and occasionally unnecessarily sentimental. Ahmed’s and Niko’s transition from enemies to the human beings beneath the soldiers is hard to buy.
For a film that aspires to be realistic, Tangerines is too romantic, and not for its own good. Of course, it’s a fable, perhaps even a morality tale, but then again it didn’t necessarily have to be contrived. The very ending itself that celebrates brotherhood among men (and not war and death) is both implausible and didactic. For the matter, the entire film is didactic as it strives hard to convey a life lesson.
That said, if taken strictly in cinematic terms and leaving aside its political correctness, Tangerines is more than worth seeing for what it gets right.
Production notes
Mandariinid (Tangerines, Georgia/Estonia, 2013). Written and directed by Zaza Urushadze. With Lembit Ulfsak, Mikheil Meskhi, Giorgi Nakhashidze, Elmo Nuganen, Raivo Trass. Cinematography: Rein Kotov. Editing: Alexander Kuranov. Running time: 86 minutes.
@pablsuarez
