Quchis dgeebi

OK, so this was kind of cool for me because Street Days is a special film and I got to speak to the director afterwards and also got my ticket autographed. It's Levan's first feature film, he's a Georgian who went and lived and worked in New York for 7 years, before deciding to move back to Georgia permanently, after what I would describe as "finding his voice". So I asked him how influenced he had been by Georgian cinema, and he mentioned watching some Otar Iosseliani films, although he was very clear that he was only interested in the Georgian films he made, not the Parisian ones. For those of you who haven't found their way there yet, Georgian cinema is quite amazing, and has produced great directors (films), like Tenghiz Abuladze (Monanieba/Repentance), Otar Iosseliani (Kachagebi, tavi VII / Brigands, Chapter VII), and Giorgi Shenegelaya (Pirosmani). There's a clear flavour to it, Georgian directors like humour, but also peaceful images and surrealism, it's a very distinctly national cinema. Of course, as Levan pointed out, the standard domestic product that you won't see at film festivals or outside Georgia tends to feature a high quantity of nudity and such, so I'm strictly describing the art cinema of Georgia. Sergei Parajanov, I note was also born in Georgia, but to Armenian parents, and he travelled widely amongst what were then the Soviet satellite states. He did however make a great film in Georgian language, with a Georgian co-director, about Georgian history, the Legend of the Suram Fortress (Ambavi Suramis tsikhitsa)

Anyway, my wild expectations for Street Days beforehand were that in Levan Koguashvili Georgian cinema would find a successor to the aforementioned characters. A wild hype, but I'm happy to say that I think it's accurate. There is the calm surrealism here that is the flavour of Georgian art cinema. The movie was inspired by a real story about a junkie in Tblisi. Tblisi apparently has a problem with middle-aged heroin addicts, people who grow up in the Soviet era where life was more regimented, and who haven't been able to adjust.

Checkie, who was once a widely respected figure in the community has now turned to heroin and hangs around with a gang of addicts outside of his son's school. Life revolves around the next fix. As with directors such as John Ford, Koguashvili believes that "tragic stories should be told with humour", and though this movie is polemical, is addressing pressing modern issues in Tblisi society, it never makes you feel down in the dumps, not even slightly, this is in marked contrast to pusher films in Western society. He also avoided showing scenes of actual drug use, apparently he spoke to psychologists regarding this, and the idea is that this glamorises drug use. This was a refreshing perspective.

Checkie gets involved with some corrupt police who put him in between a rock and a hard place, and he has to find a moral way out. Street Days is a bit of a buddie movie too as he takes affluent teenager Icka under his wing as the movie develops.

I just wanted to underline the humour here as well, which is just great. At the start of the movie two addicts detour into a courtyard to vomit, the matrons of the courtyard then attempt to bully them into cleaning the vomit up, assaulting them with a broom, after they've run off, they then attempt to get the pursuant undercover police officer to clean the mess. The humour is something that should be flagged, because it's quite deadpan and you should be looking for it. A couple of moments of ultra-dark humour, which I won't spoil but will add here as aides-mémoir for myself and those who have watched the film involve a school show-and-tell with a difference and an overenthusiastic window-borne berating of a wayward son.

My favourite scene would be the dream sequence that Checkie has, which again I won't spoil. Some of the cinematography as well is quite clever, there's a scene where Checkie's face is shot through a pane of clear glass, whilst the other people present are shown without obstruction. It's old glass though and they didn't make the panes straight in those days, so it subtly warps his head, just a superb effect that shows his weariness and the way heroin has changed him.

I actually can't recommend this film more, and am delighted to see that the IMDb voters had sense for once and also went with Levan Koguashvili's superb feature debut. More to come please Levan!

Rather than just another depressive movie about the horrors of drug dependency, Street Days examines Georgian's middle aged 'lost generation' who failed to adapt to the post-Soviet age. Checkie emerges as the protagonist in the film and as his attempts to score lead him to get mixed up with a couple of corrupt policemen and the cocky teenage son of an old, now successful, school friend. Checkie's drug dependency, and his lip service to going clean, provides the background as he confronts a series of moral challenges as he tries to be the good guy that everyone remembers him as before he became an addict and as he tries to make things up to his financially struggling ex-wife and son. The actor playing Checkie, in his first film, is utterly compelling as he struggles with impossible dilemmas and the senior cop is deliciously malevolent. The film has a great streak of black humour running through it, and the near farce on occasion, rather than detracting from the drama, helps to keep the characters human and emphasise the hole that Checkie is digging, and being dug, into. All in all, a very interesting first feature and another excellent choice at the Edinburgh International Film Festival

This movies is a about Drug addicted person Chekie. After watching it i think that Levan Koguashvili made it to represent - stressful society - life of drug addicted peoples, People who lost a Hope.

In 90ths Soviet Union collapsed and Georgia became Indipendet country. (Movie is Shoot in Capital of Georgia - Tbilisi) Becoming an independent country brought a civil war in Georgia. Young people,who have never had seen Guns and ammo's became a Soldiers. Army was disorganized , they had no food , no equipment - because country was not ready to be part of war after 1 year of Indifendet. Soon Georgian soldiers started using drugs, to keep in shape - to for energy , They were using it to relax after stressful fights. after war most of veterans were drug addicted and unfortunately drug became "Trend" in That generation.Most of them couldn't continue life without a drugs and alcohol. They couldn't forgot war. War affected on new generations too. Because veterans were respected people - and the way they live became trend for their children , for new generations. So this Movie is about Sittuation after civil war, about society who lost hope of future, about country where it was hard to find a job in legal ways. Checkie, main character of this movie is a part of this stressed society. He is really good guy, but situation surround him is hopeless too. Once he was respected person -but then he became a drug addicted tramp . He has a lot of problem: problems with wife, problems with friends, problems with cops. At the end of movie he finds out only one way to stay - Respectful person.Person who had mental crisis, but he chose the hardest but the most right way. This movie is quite amazing.

"Street Days" is a georgian film about Checkie, a once respected man who became addicted to drugs. Now a pushover who hangs out with tramps, he is seen as trash by the world around him. Even his own wife is skeptical of his good intentions and wants little to do with him. Only his son seems to care for him a whole lot. When corrupt cops try to muscle him into getting his friends son "shot up" on heroin, he begins facing a crisis of conscience.

Checkie is not a bad man. He doesn't like to hurt others, doing only what is absolutely necessary to keep his addiction satisfied. Even when trying to do right by those around him, he finds himself almost helpless against the forces around him. In the eyes of others, he is at best, a living tragedy.In the hands of another film maker, such content would be mercilessly bleak, and while that wouldn't necessarily result in a worse film, I do appreciate the warmth seen throughout. Even in these dismal times, there are some moments of humanity that shine through, most prominently from Checkie himself, but also from the minister's son. One thing I do wish is we had more scenes of them together, as their relationship was potent and a centerpiece of the entire story, and I feel should have been given a tad more focus.

THe cinematography is solid, though I was thrown off by how crowded the shots were, when character pieces tend to be more intimate. Regardless of the reasoning behind this, I adjusted quickly enough, and the film does look quite good. The acting is top notch from all involved.

If you're expecting something akin to "The Basketball Diaries", "Requiem for a Dream" or such style, this film might not be for you. The drug use is not excessive, and the film focuses much more on the wider, long term consequences. Don't take that as me bashing the films I mentioned, I'm simply saying this is a different take on such material. If you're into slower, character driven pieces, this should be right at home for you.

8/10