Variety Critics’ Choice: Europe Now! 2014 / Shemtkhveviti paemnebi / Georgia, Ukraine 2013
Levan Koguashvili’s quietly enchanting film carves out an unpredictable path for its Tbilisi bachelor protagonist that leads not so much toward love as a lovely sense of generosity toward all. With pitch-perfect performances and unfussily naturalistic yet artful staging, the result is a slow-burning delight that leaves a soulful afterglow.
Levan Koguashvili’s quietly enchanting film carves out an unpredictable path for its Tblisi bachelor protagonist that leads not so much toward love as a lovely sense of generosity toward all. Best friends since childhood, history teacher Sandro (Andro Sakhvarelidze) and former soccer player-turned-coach Iva (Archil Kikodze) teach at the same school, and both find themselves still single on the brink of 40. Sandro still lives with his parents, who are forever bemoaning his lack of marital status. When Sandro asks to borrow their car for a weekend trip to the seaside, they insist on coming along. There, the men meet up with a student and her mother (Ia Sukhitashvili), who is clearly interested in Sandro, though nothing is easy, since the girl’s father is currently in prison and will be getting out shortly. Driven by pitch-perfect performances in place of flashy style, the result is a slow-burning delight that leaves a soulful afterglow.
Dennis Harvey
95 min / Color, DCP
Director Levan Koguashvili
/ Screenplay Boris Frumin, Levan Koguashvili ve spolupráci s / in collaboration with Andro Sakhvarelidze
/ Dir. of Photography Tato Kotetishvili
/ Editor Nodar Nozadze
/ Producer Suliko Tsulukidze, Levan Koguashvili, Olena Yershova
/ Production Kino Iberica, Millimeter Film
/ Cast Andro Sakhvarelidze, Ia Sukhitashvili, Archil Kikodze, Vakhtang Chachanidze, Kakhi Kavsadze, Marina Kartsivadze, Marika Antadze
/ Contact Films Boutique
Levan Koguashvili (b. 1973, Tbilisi, USSR) is a director, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He studied at Moscow’s VGIK and later received a graduate degree at NYU. While living in New York in 2002–2007, he made several documentaries and short films. After returning home, he filmed his fiction debut Street Days (Kuchis dgeebi, 2010), a drama about a drug addict that takes a critical look at the social situation in contemporary Tbilisi. The film won an award at the Rotterdam IFF. Equally socially-minded was his earlier documentary Women from Georgia (2008), about Georgian women from various social classes who have come to work illegally in New York and New Jersey as civilized slaves who sacrifice their lives for their families. Since his most recent film, Koguashvili has been talked about as an outstanding member of today’s Georgian New Wave.
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