Mandariinid

That's what a nomination from the Oscars can do to a foreign-language film. it can build hype, put them on the spotlight, let so many others see films that might have not otherwise been seen by people who usually don't go out of their way to see foreign films. It's a rather lovely film, despite having subject matter that would be seen as glum or dry. Surely, it's not a "happy" film, but it's lovely in its themes that it reinforces by the end and what it's ultimately trying to tell us. In that way, it succeeds greatly and it offers as a reminder of our own problems and our own flaws, and that humanity, despite so many reasons to not care about others, can prevail in the end and make you really care for someone.

This film is flawless and one of the highlights of the Montreal World Film Festival 2014. It also was recognized with many international prizes in Europe, North America and even Israel. It captures the incoherence and inhumanity of war from the point of view of innocent civilians and of dehumanized soldiers. The pace and plot are crisp, compact and conscious-elevating with a spectacular, yet simple screenplay. The cinematography and music match and enhance the emotional and philosophical human drama. The acting from the all-male cast is poignant and powerful in its restraint. Zaza Urushadze's text comes to life like a play in this sometimes claustrophobic confine which only heightens the inherent tension between the protagonists. The directing does however balance this with the sad beauty of rural Abkhazia conflict zone. The simple sets set the mood and this movie is shooting for the moon.

Alexander Kuranov returns as the editor after teaming up with Zaza Urushadze for the excellent multiple story Three Houses (2008) and gets every cut and emotion right. The dialogue, like the film, is raw, unpredictable, mysterious and profound. It brings you the very core of humanity's hopes and fears. The theme of pointless war has rarely been portrayed so perfectly. It surpasses even seminal South Korean The Front Line (2011) and does so in a intellectual and emotionally effective way. Beyond that it is a human drama about people stuck in a conflict and how they decide to deal with it and each other. Is there a glimpse of hope or some guidelines we can learn from?

Be sure that I will be looking for Zaza's previous and next work. This is cinema at it's best.

"What is wrong with you, young men? All the time, I will kill, I will kill... Who gave you the right for that?"

I wasn't familiar with Estonian cinema before Mandariinid (Tangerines), but I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for Zaza Urushadze's upcoming projects because this was a fulfilling experience. I know the Academy doesn't always get it right, but at least it gives me a chance to check out films that I wouldn't have heard of otherwise. Urushadze's greatest strength as a director here comes from focusing on the story, which he also wrote. It is a simple anti-war film with a powerful narrative and strong performances that benefit from an interesting premise. Urushadze doesn't try to astonish the audience with great visuals or overload us with gruesome action scenes like most war films, but rather focuses on the humanity of each character and does so by centering the story in a small local community where only two men remain. He reduces the Civil War taking place in the Apkhazian region and focuses it on how it affects two local Estonians who have decided to stay in their farmland instead of seeking safety back in Estonia. Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak) and Margus (Elmo Nuganen) are neighbors who work together. Margus has a tangerine plantation (which explains the somewhat terrible title) and Ivo is a carpenter who makes the boxes for their transportation so they collaborate together. Since the war broke out, everyone in the land has returned to Estonia, but these two men have decided to stay. Ivo is a determined and wise old man who doesn't take sides in the war. When a conflict breaks out in front of their home, two soldiers are seriously injured and Ivo takes them into his home. The soldiers (Giorgi Nakashidze and Misha Meskhi) are enemies and we are expecting the tension to break out once they fully recover. Ivo knows this, but he also believes he can teach them a lesson through his acts of kindness during this terrible time of war. The film is effective and accomplishes its purpose of delivering its anti-war message by focusing on the humanity of each one of the characters.

Lembit Ulfsak delivers the best performance of the film. He gives a quiet and calmed performance. Despite all the hate and hurtful things the two soldiers say to each other, he is always the voice of reason reminding them that they all share the same land and have equal rights. Ulfsak expresses this inner peacefulness very well from the opening scene in which some local soldiers come searching for food. He is the kind of person that would help anyone, even those that consider him an enemy. Elmo Nuganen is also solid as Margus who has a strong relationship with Ivo and looks up to him. When the two injured soldiers appear at their doorsteps the balance is disrupted and the war comes knocking home. So we clearly see how war takes its toll on everyone, even those who have nothing to do with the fighting, affecting their business and their lifestyle. Giorgi Nakashidze and Misha Meskhi deliver solid roles as these enemies who call a truce out of respect for Ivo while they are in his home. I found the simple premise for this film as a strong way to carry out its message by reducing the big scale of the war to a small local village, but still portraying it as something terrible. Some might consider this too simple of a story or too improbable, but I think it was a quite affecting way to deliver its message. I enjoyed how Zaza Urushadze decided to approach this material and would definitely recommend it.

Ethnic and/or religious armed conflicts are always particularly painful, "realpolitik" vs. history, perceptions vs. actual circumstances, victims vs. profiteers, etc. The War in Abkhazia (1992–93) was one of the first post-Soviet gory confrontations, with tens of thousands dead, ethnic cleansing, and included the biggest successful rescue operation so far by the Estonian government to save compatriots, not even citizens, as their forebears settled there in 19th century... Many smaller nations, like Estonians, did not choose sides, they just tried to survive and carry on, splendidly expressed through tangerines in the film, but remote weaponry reaches everywhere and does not ask questions (Estonians were not considered hostile by both sides).

All this is nicely presented in this Estonian-Georgian film, where Estonian actors used are all famous film actors (the Georgian ones were unfamiliar to me, but they were convincing), and characters seem very realistic. As far as I know, the topic of honour and keeping word are holy among the Caucasus nations, enabling to depict scenes and events odd and even improbable among the Western, "civilized" nations. The venue is limited to the remains of a village, but as everything is so properly constructed and performed, you do not feel embattled, and can follow and emphasize with all characters, significantly widening the audience and letting ponder on and over the essence of warfare.

PS The film is totally "male", only actors were present, no actresses, but the less than 1,5 hours pass tautly.

I never watched any Georgian movie before 'Mandariinid'. So first experience was really so convenient and remarkable. This movie leads me to step forward in Georgian cinema crowd.

The tenderness of this movie give peace to the audience. The certainty of this movie contain peace,sympathy,humanity,courtesy,generosity.This cinema is one of the most influencing visionary art of anti war. This cinema has a ability and eligibility to persuade the audience into morality.

A Georgian war cinema where Abkhazia want to depart from Georgia. A story of two enemies who hates each other but deep inside a little humanity grow after they passed some time in a house of a old man 'Ivo' who saved their life.The character Ivo is established as a cue of virtuous. There are another guy who works with the old man who harvest the crops of tangerine.

It is definitely a good anti war movie. The cinematography,music,editing composition was upstanding. Specially, cinematography language was established strongly. 'Zaza Urushadze' i will definitely memorize the name.