The Trader

Film was an incredible glimpse of daily life in another region in the world. Very short, very ambiguous with almost no plot what so ever - yet it captivated me. I do wish it was longer.

This documentary offers a bleak look at poverty by following a trader and his work in the small villages of the Republic of Georgia. Although one could argue the style is slow and boring, it is employed to reflects the mundane, hard and dream-crushing nature of poverty and the villagers simple existence. The directors juxtaposition of the joy and childhood and the harsh reality of adulthood in these community creates a surprising emotional depth to the short documentary format.

Naturally it will not resonate with everyone with such a simple style and subject matter, but give it 23 minutes of your time and be pleasantly surprised.

This short doc is incredibly sad/bleak at times but also fascinating and, I think, well shot. Some lovely scenes. And some harrowing one. A trader makes his leaving trading gems for potatoes and then selling the potatoes on later on (elsewhere). Everyone just trying to get by (but in abject poverty). I thought it was great. More than worthy of less than half an hour of my time.

Without any need for a voice-over narration, this short (23 min) film follows a Georgian trader into rural Georgia where he trades tat and throwaway trash with the locals for what is effectively the currency of potatoes. That's it.

But that description tells you nothing about the stunning 'old world' poverty of the rural people he visits, or indeed if their incredible wide-eyed wonder when they see his tatty almost worthless wares, as if he had shown them true wonders and rare jewels.

Others have said it here; this is an eye-opener, in so many ways. Watch it (on Netflix). It will show you a part of Europe you probably had no idea still existed in the 20th, let alone in the 21st century. Brilliant, simple, filmmaking. Bravo!

This is not a documentary made for a mass market. Pearl Jams songs says " I don't question our existence, I just question our modern needs." By Western standards of living, these people live in poverty and manual labor must be exhausting. While they don't have many choices, they seem to have everything they need. Are they happy? That is the main question, but the documentary is too short to answer it.