Mdzevlebi

The film Hostages (Mdzevlebi) directed by the young Georgian director Rezo Gigineishvili was shown at the Berlinale in the Panorama section. It is based on the true events of a plane hijacking in 1983 by a group of youngsters belonging to the artistic elite of Georgia. The hijacking resulted in multiple casualties and all hijackers, except the woman, were executed. After the USSR dissolved, the participants of these events were sometimes romanticized and represented as heroic martyrs.

The film leaves a strong impression and leaves room for thought. The closing sentence of the film – " In 1991 the freedom of movement was finally granted" – is something completely unnecessary; first of all this is common knowledge and secondly the lack of freedom of movement cannot be an excuse or explanation for the atrocities depicted in the film.

The film does not offer answers and does not explain motivation of horrific actions of hijackers, however it poses some profound questions, which is also important, especially as this event is still shrouded in mystery. The picture filmed in minimalistic style and is made in an almost documentary fashion, it is tense and grips the viewer all the way through.

Read more at: http://indie-cinema.com/2017/02/hostages/

This movie is based on a true event that occurred in 1983 in Georgia when it was part of the USSR. A group of young people, highly dissatisfied with life under the Soviet state, decided to hijack a passenger jet and force it to take them out to the West.

First off, it is great to have a chance to see movies made it parts of the world with little cinema output. For this reason alone, Hostages is a worthwhile film, given its Georgian origins. The story itself is one not known to me at all but it is certainly an interesting set of events. It is a film which operates in shades of grey as opposed to black and white certainties. We do sympathise with the frustrations of the hijackers and their daily grind but it is difficult to condone their actions given that people were killed as a result of it; then again, the Soviet response to the incident was extremely heavy-handed, although they were trying to resolve the problem. The result is a more even-handed and thought-provoking film than might otherwise have been produced, although it would only be fair to say that it is definitely critical of the life that was imposed on people under the communist regime. The gloomy early 80's period detail is well done and the film is very well made. Perhaps the material could have been focused a little more sharply in places maybe but overall this is worth seeing for sure.

I watched the movie the night of the premiere in Tbilisi, I had read a book based on the events. The Book is called (Flight from USSR) and I recommend it to anyone who sees the movie and finds it interesting.The book is in fact worth reading, when the film ended I was hearing mixed reviews from the audience, most of whom were confused over what they saw, just like me. I who had read the book, found the movie complex. I imagine for those who had not read the book or for people from other countries it would be harder to understand because we grew up with this story and overall we know what was going on but others did/will not.Not to the point where they should understand.Sometimes I thought that the movie focused on stuff that did not really made sense or was not important at all.I thought that the director had emphasized on other details of the same story than the book I mentioned, like he wanted to say the same story with a different angle.

On the other hand, The acting was great, I was blown away with the Wedding scene just like the airplane scene.

To sum up my opinion I would like to say that it was a good movie in general but I would preferred if it was more like the book.

I have red, haired and watched quite a lot about this historical event. Opinions always differ.. I will say briefly, that this film was more than I expected. It was way far from subjectivity and excessive romanticism what would make unambiguous heroes out of the main characters. Great scenario! Great actors! bravo!!! Great film!

Why is the title of the film in the original with a Russian word, when the film is released under a Georgian name.