When Tangerines (Mandariinid) was nominated for the best foreign language film in the Academy Awards 2015, I immediately liked it. I was being biased, of course, for not other reason than rooting for a country where choose to make cinema must be an stoic act.
Telling a story beautifully in an simple and honest way is not easy. When in front of a narrative that seems to take us by the hand, everything looks so certain. However, to achieve that is everything but that, and it is actually the strongest feature o a filmmaker.
Mandariinid is pure beauty in its simple way to tell a painful story. With the building camaraderie between four different men, some of them war enemies, Zaza Urushadze leads us to a heartbreaking realization: people makes us lose faith in humanity at the same time that are the ones to restore our hope in the human kind. All this through Ivo, my favorite person on the world right now. Because a lucid, wise, quiet, loving man can make all the difference, specially in such an impossible time as war. With him, we can realize what really matters in this crazy, absurd life at Earth.
I was laughing quietly in a minute... in the next one I was crying so sadly, I thought my heart would really break. Those characters? Not fictional for me. They are people, and their lost was my own, in that moment. A big silence is still in me. And the gratitude for strong and persistent filmmakers with their careful views regarding all things human.
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| Tangerines (Mandariinid). Directed and written by Zaza Urushadze. With: Lembit Ulfsak, Elmo Nüganen, Giorgi Nakashidze, Misha (Mikheil) Meskhi. Estonia/Georgia, 2013, 87 min., Color. |
PS: At the Tangerines's imdb.com page, one of the keywords for the movie is tea drinking :) It is accurate, actually.
Your journey has actually helped me add items to my watchlist that I would otherwise not even hear about. I am one to generally turn down war stories, but I have a feeling I could like this one.
ReplyDelete[ j ]
Your comment reminded me a story. Years ago, I went to a cinema near home to watch True Lies. When I got there, it was showing Forrest Gump instead, and my first thought was: oh no, a war movie? :) I understand your feeling, I have the same about some subjects. But I try to overlook my own ideas about it, because the same theme can be very diversely pictured. On the last two months, Ida, Tangerines, The Secret Life of Words were movies that discussed war in a very relevant and delicate and strong manner. But I guess hollywood left a mark in the subject that leads us to think about a specific kind of war productions. Beyond that, it is not an easy or agreeable subject, and it is not everyday that we are ready to confront it.
DeleteJoe, I'm very greatful for your support and help with this insane and amazing dare. Thank you also for your many sugestions and comments <3
Got me thinking... Brazil once was a really hard place for making movies. It still is, though.
ReplyDeleteAnd about estonian movies, I love this one:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1071228/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Mina Olin Siin is already on the list (you gave me the DVD, remember?) Soon it will be here!
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