Luna Papa

I was finally able to catch this movie after missing it here at the film festival a couple of years ago. I must say that the wait was certainly worth it. The visual presentation of the movie is spectacular and the lovely endearing yet perverse story line only further adds to the experience of watching. The characterizations are wonderful and the manic nature of most of the characters brings an energy to the story. My favourite scenes were the "kidnap" ventures and the wonderful shots of the water - the colours are breathtaking. I will certainly have to see this one again before it disappears!!

I really enjoyed this movie. A great tragicomedy! True to form, the story is great and unusual written by Irakli Kvirikadze. The story has multiple layers, so I recommend one more viewing to grasp its richness. I highly recommend seeing other films written by Kvirikadze. His screenplays are very enjoyable with layers of complexities. Most recent is 27 missing kisses directed by his wife Nana Djordjadze. He collaborated often with his wife. A Chef in Love (american release 1996) was one such film that was nominated for the Academy Awards in 1997. A feast for the eyes. Irakli Kvirikadze was first known for both his writing and directing.His films were repeatedly banned in the 80s and 90s during Soviet rule. Today he is known simultaneously as the Fellini of post-soviet cinema and the leader in post-soviet renaissance.

Mamlakat lives together with her father, her mentally handicapped brother Nasreddin and her sister. Her mother died when she was born. She´s dreaming of the great wide world. As a traveling group of theatre actors arrives in their little town, she´s spents a night with one of them. Actually she don´t even know his face or his name. One day she notices that she got pregnant and tells her father about it. They decide to find the unknown father of her unborn child. A long journey begins...

This movie will make you laugh and cry! It´s funny, charming but also tragic. Watch it, you will love it !!!

The film is a pre-Enlightenment allegory, or the description of one thing under the guise of another. Certainly not social utopianism or realism. The young woman tempts the mortal laws by defying custom and the material world. She wants to follow her spirit and a craving for Shakespeare and the world of Orpheus. She is compelled to bring forth the child . . . or the longing of her soul. She suffers various hardships and adventures on her journey, sometimes comically and ineptly aided by her hapless buffoon father and idiot-savant brother. Only when she leaves the earth can the mysterious birth occur in the coupling of the female with the male.

This is the story of 17-year old Mamlakat, a quite innocent girl from somewhere in the deserts of Tadshikistan. One evening, she sleeps with a stranger, an unknown actor of a traveling theater group, obviously not knowing about the consequences this might have. She never sees his face and - gets pregnant. In the following, she and her family search for the unknown father.

It's the unborn child who tells the story from the off, and the whole movie is as crazy and absurd like this. Drawn in mighty, impressive pictures, the movie is as strange as the landscape it takes place in.

Everything fits together perfectly: the story, the actors (especially Chulpan Khamatova as Mamlakat and Moritz Bleibtreu as her brother Nasreddin) and the "special" effects.

Let the story and the pictures go directly to your brain, like a colorful dream you are dreaming and can't get out. Don't block yourself with "logic" and so-called "intelligence", don't worry about crazy things that could never ever be, and you will love this unique movie!