Addio terraferma

All members were unique like this : a mother was very busy for her job, a father played with locomotive models all day, a son got along with homeless friends, a seles girl of the cafe whom he had been in a one way relationship with and a dull servant who worked in a house of the mother's lover.

It was similar to a miniature world. I enjoyed watching interpersonal relationships passed by each other and fitting them perfectly! Maybe we circulate in the narrower range than we expect.

I watched it twice. I couldn't follow the progress because, at first, I watched it while having done something. I recommend it to peple like Jacques Tati.

with only little dialogue the film reveals several parallel lives and focuses on two young men, one of them son of a wealthy family the other of poor origin, who resist their social heritage and design themselves. unfortunately, the wealthy guy who prefers to work as a dishwasher and spend his life with chlochards has to learn, that he will not get the girl he fancies. she prefers to take the other other guy, who, despite of his poor upbringing, shows up in expensive clothes riding an expensive motorbike. director/ writer iosseliani himself plays the very funny part of a jolly drinker, father of the rich family, who prefers not to be part of a society, that is only interested in success. though not fast this is an intelligent and entertaining film.

Here indeed is film-making in its purest art form. Iosseliani has, in this film, the only one of his I have had the greatest pleasure of seeing, manages to evoke such subtle ideas in each pan, in each scene, which in themselves are miniature stories, each one a little jewel, which little by little begin to string along, creating a thread which tells the whole story. And the result is a treasure, something to value for a long time.

To call this film a comedy, is almost an insult: it is far too subtle for such simplistic definition. Here is wit, which is not just for easy laughs; here is wit in its subtlest form, such as the British sense of humour in the fifties and early sixties of the past century. Here is the voice of a visionary who creates unforgettable tid-bits, visual savouries, such that each scene in itself is a suggestive, evokeful treasure, combining to thread together an intelligent story for intelligent viewers. No, one should not try to compare Iosseliani with Almodóvar or Lynch, perhaps a slight influence or comparison with Fellini at times, because the concepts of how to exhibit subtle nuances of wit in exquisite expressiveness, very often with hardly any dialogue, belong to another sphere.

The presence of a great bird, similar to a pelican, as well as the two dogs - a Labrador puppy, and a short-legged variant of the Border Collie, affords that emblematic and enigmatic delicate touch which helps this film to be something else: it is not comical and it is not laughable; this film is cinematography as art.

My vote is much higher than the present average shown in IMDb.

a subtle and poetic film about people trying to find their real place and run away from origins. two guys frequently meet not knowing that one of them is rich but prefers washing dishes in a bar, while the other is poor but rents a suite and motorbike to spend a fancy day in town. probably, one of the most beautiful moments of the film is the rich piere's (played by ioselliani himself) acquintal with a drunkard from the town. both sing long gone melodies while drinking and watching a mini train running around on a table. many have regarded the film as too slow and boring what apparently comes from ioselliani's refusal to use close-ups and crane/dolly shots. in opposite, it adds a silent observing character and avoids to give any human judgment.

Otar Ioselliani's masterpiece about pursuing life's dreams and remaining true to your beliefs combines a wonderful sense of warmth and an exceptional sense of humor as it paces along in its very own, unconstrained fashion while inviting us for a ride into its pleasant and touching world.

Scenes of often over-the-top situation comedy are juxtaposed with soulful explorations of the human heart, where staying honest to oneself as a person is the only way of avoiding life's inevitable cruelty.

Both entertaining and thoughtful, it is the most enjoyable film to-date by Ioselliani.