La chute des feuilles

a film about communism, love, moral rectitude, and, in a measure, about faith. a common fact in a wine factory. and a decision who reveals the innocence of a young man. a love story more fragile than a spider web.and a time. concentric circles by a great director who create not only realistic portrait of society, ironic picture of a system but use the most delicate tools for build the atmosphere, the tension between characters, the essence of Nico gestures. a beautiful movie for its splendid grace. a grace who is just part of admirable force. the monastery image as remember of real certitude, the fall of leaves and beginning of maturity, the amusing scenes and the wise manner to give to each scene its nimbus. that is all. it is a not small error to not see it. maybe, only to understand a little part from a season from East history.

This movie is a masterpiece. Original title is "Giorgobis Tve ((Saint George's month), which is in fact a month (November) of fiest - wine testing, following the month of winemaking (Month of October). It very well depicts the absurdity of life in Soviet Georgia:)))) The director is Otar Ioseliani, who also shot several other masterpieces including Pastoral, Once Upon a Time There Was a Singing Blackbird (1970) and Favorites of the Moon, etc.

"Giorgobistve", or "Falling Leaves", was director Otar Iosseliani's first feature-length film, following some largely unseen shorts and the now available and very good "Aprili". I would probably rank "Giorgobistve" as one of the better debuts by directors I like. It may not have the lasting power of "Eraserhead" for example, but it is a confident, mostly not seriously flawed, opening film for Iosseliani, and one that serves as a fine introduction to his style of film-making.

One of the most noticeable things about "Giorgobistve" is Iosseliani's use of the camera. The black and white photography by Abessalom Maisuradze is impressive, but it is what Iosseliani himself does, working with his camera operator, that really stands out, giving the film a very kinetic style that sometimes feels as if it stems from fear of keeping the camera still, but here feels perfectly sensible and certainly suits and enhances the film's 'cinema-verite' feel and adds to the realism.

Critics' reviews I have read of "Giorgobistve" point at the film's shift in tone around halfway through as a fault, but I beg to differ. It was a very conscious move by the writer Amiran Chichinadze to reflect the sudden turn from happiness to misery that life in the soviet era could take. Iosseliani captures this beautifully. I'm not sure if any of the acting is actually great, but for the most part it is solid, with Ramaz Giorgobiani as Niko in the lead role being particularly effective.

"Giorgobistve" is perhaps not a great film, and Iosseliani would certainly go on to make better films, but this is a very impressive film regardless.

8/10

For some reason I thought this film was from a significantly earlier time than 1968 when it was made.

Savor the sweetness of daily life (the older brothers with their sisters and Mother/Grandmother). The boys playing piano while their boss father plays billiards in his "office?" The street life too, especially one of the Sundays - their is a wholesome happiness found in friends greeting friends.

While I understand there are larger overtones in the mix as well, I think even if the political were somehow factored out, the contrast between the two brothers was sort of a "Goofus" vs "Gallant" for people in the USA who recall the old Highlights magazine (a staple of dentist waiting rooms around the time this film was made).

The surprise here is how "Goofus" rises to the occasion. In his job interview in that billiard/boardroom he is frank and humble, he fits in with the workers plays some football on a break and shares some glasses of the local product as the coworkers honor (I think the deceased) father of Niko. He's a salt of the earth kind of young person, and very young at that.

His pursuit of Marina is full of awkward charm. While his big brother is more forceful and by the book, saying what the bosses want to hear, and playing by the rules even if the rules are unfair.

Again the story seems less important than the scenes, especially those involving small or large crowds of extras. The use of music, both as soundtrack, but moreso as a reason for a crowd to assemble in societal and musical harmony.

A gentle celebration of wine, love and song that like a vintage crop, has aged well.

Definitely not for the short attention-span set. This takes its own sweet time to get anywhere and even then you're not quite sure where it's taken you. It kicks off with a long opening sequence resembling nothing more than a pre-war black and white documentary on traditional wine-growing in Georgia and I may as well state my ignorance up front, I didn't even know that Georgia HAD a wine-growing industry but I'm guessing they don't export too much of it. The screening I attended was introduced by the director who advised us not to read the subtitles and, to a great extent, the film can be followed just by watching it. If it has a central character it is Nico, a teenager who gets a job in a wine-collective (if that's the correct term) and subsequently decides that one of the new barrels is undrinkable and ensures it will not be bottled by adding gelatin to the barrel. That's about it apart from a slight sub-plot involving a possessive bully and two giggling girls. I'm glad I saw it but I'm not sure I'd want to sit through it again.