Addio terraferma

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.

It reminds me of Keanu Reeves in My Private Idaho, but this is a European version which is of course more "humane" and very "european". The style is like "the Stream of Consciousness", the shooting of the movie seems like the director's casual flowing of ideas, which is not very much arranged, anyway, I like anything that is off the track and extraordinary. Lastly, the gist the movie tries to unveil is that life is a circle, it repeat itself all the way. Seems like the director understand the Chinese philosophy- Taoism, which said that everything is developing is its own track, which is a circle. I think the end of the movie is very meaningful, though it's the father's turn to leave the rich home to look for his own dream, it is clear that unlike his son, his must be a successful escaping. I appreciate the regular using of the rainy weather in the movie. I just love everything about the movie.

Iosseliani is a truly controversial figure of film making; You either like his films or fell asleep watching them. No in betweens. Having only minimal traditional narrative or story telling clichés, the film manages to illustrate true emotions without being bombastic or over-sophisticated. Doing this by showing everyday people who are only drifting with the waves of life, wishing to get away from their existence.There's a slight sarcasm involved in the portrayal of how everyone is unhappy with what he/she has and wants to be like the other who wants to be like him , and vice versa.(Really sharp.)However, Itt all ends up in positive, placing emphasis on the need for seeking personal freedom and finding hope and refugee in true friendship, in a plastic, greedy, selfish world.

Personally, i think it has one of the most touching end sequences in film history.

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.

I saw this immediately following the same director's Falling Leaves and found it much more accessible. The twenty-odd year gap between the two films and the fact that this one was made in France as opposed to Georgia may, of course, have something to do with it. Again, the Georgian-born director (he made a point of saying he was Georgian and NOT Russian) introduced it - in fluent French yet - and described it as his most complicated film. It's a gently, meandering piece and at least half a dozen times you think, OK, that's it, a logical ending, only to have it spin out yet moor gossamer thread. There's a distant relationship with Renoir's The Rules Of The Game but only around the edges. It's about a disparate group of people whose lives intersect and sometimes, but not always, connect. Bizarre, eccentric, both could be fairly employed to describe some of the characters. Again the director chooses to spin his web around a young male, this time around the scion of a wealthy family who, for reasons best known to himself, works as a dishwasher in a restaurant - and an inept dishwasher at that; he's fired halfway through the film - and chooses friends from among the outcasts of society (again, we could, if we wanted to stretch a point, find a link with Boudu Saved From Drowning). Characters come and go on this patchwork quilt and some we find more interesting than others. None of the actors are well known but most are fairly competent and overall the film holds the attention.