Wonderful Movie

One of my all time favorites.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The Georgia-Abkhazia War of the early 1990's is an historically underrecognized bloodbath born of a barbaric struggle over traditional land rights and ethnic freedom. The extraordinary film "Tangerines" chronicles the grim atrocities of this vicious Eastern European conflict. At the same time, however, the story brings to bear the uniquely insane folly of a civil war. In this case it is one in which many of the combatants on both sides are unaware of the history of the people tens of thousands of them will die fighting for.Lembit Ulfsak is remarkable as Ivo, an elderly woodworker and tangerine grower. Ivo remains behind in a small village while the rest of his family have fled to Estonia. After the war literally comes to his front door, he winds up taking in and caring for a pair of soldiers morbidly wounded in a deadly gun fight. The two men are bitter enemies. Each wants to finish the job on the other. In his own quiet manner, Ivo strives to inject humanity into a crucible of hate and resentment. "Tangerines" may well leave you asking, "Were it this simple?" Or perhaps, as Director Zaza Urushadze impresses here, the question will rather be this alternative."Why CAN'T it be this simple?"

Few are the times that I have so clearly and strongly felt what the writer wants to say while watching a film. True and crystal explanation of what a war is and how complete strangers who have nothing against each other will find themselves as enemies in a battlefield and try to kill each other just because this is what their leaders ordered them to do. Every person with a common sense will understand this after watching this film. For those who can't get the message here there's truly no hope of salvation. Such stories should be taught at schools in order to make this world a better place. Fanaticism and blind odium, wherever they come from, is the real problem. This is what the film is talking about and it's doing it spotlessly.

(major spoilers)Directed and written deftly by Zaza Urushadze, "Tangerines" is one of the best foreign movies I've seen in the last several years. It certainly is one of the best anti-war movies I've ever seen. Urushadze succeeds in his theme so well because he does not pull punches at all. Without giving away specifics too much it is a sharply written character drama with Lembit Ulfsak anchoring as a needed patriarch and mentor for war-torn foes, both Chechnyans and Georgians. Ulfsak's character's language is simple and sparse, though the real journey is for the Ahmed character, who by the end of the movie has an emotional enlightening, and through this we are wrenched with sorrow.

Crafted poignantly by writer-director Zaza Urushadze, Tangerines is a simple but gripping look at human side of conflict. Set in 1992, it tells the story of an Estonian tangerine farmer who is awaiting harvest when the battle between Georgia and Abkhazian separatists comes to his doorstep. Although set in a specific time and place, the film's message about human life is universal.Right at the peak of hostilities, we are introduced to two Estonian immigrant farmers - Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak, both commanding and compassionate in his performance) and his partner Margus. While most of the population has escaped to safer ground, the pair stay to harvest their tangerine crop. It's an almost impossible task for two, but it's one they tackle, not for financial gain, but because it would be a travesty to see such a fine crop left to die. Their farming woes are trumped when a skirmish outside their homes leaves several dead and one wounded soldier from each side: Ahmed, a Chechen mercenary; and Niko, a Georgian volunteer. Ivo takes in both injured men to tend to their wounds, bringing the ethnic tensions under one roof. His only rule is that they must set aside their instincts to kill each other until both are healthy. The film hardly ever strays from its one set location - Ivo's farmhouse looking like a leftover from another century - allowing the tension to brew unobstructed as both men slowly regain their health. It's during the healing process that the men begin to look past political manifestos, religious doctrines and social convictions to see that they really aren't that different. The mutual ceasefire forces the soldiers into a pocket of peace – the same peace they've been fighting for. Despite threatening to kill each other once they are ambulatory, their enforced propinquity fosters tolerance if not friendship, in a mutual show of respect and gratitude towards their savior.With this simple premise in place, Tangerines uses its small scale to say something big, converting the initial suspense into something more thematically and philosophically powerful as the hypocrisy of war is smoothly laid bare. Except for brief outbursts of violence, Tangerines is, like its hero Ivo, a stoic and introspective thing. The story moves slowly and methodically, tempering the expected rapprochement between enemies with a more acerbic outlook about human nature. Although there are moments of quiet humor, Tangerines is mostly a tragedy, told via looks exchanged between heated adversaries and their imperturbable intermediary. Over the course of the film, those looks soften from glaring mistrust to acceptance to heartbroken endurance in the face of the meaninglessness and inevitability of death.For anyone looking for an uncomplicated anti-war argument painted by historical insight, superb performances and airtight direction, 'Tangerines' is a must-see. Just like a tangerine, it is a delicious mix of sweet and acidic flavors.