Dzveli qartuli simgera

Under the premise of documenting for the sake of preservation the various forms of Georgian religious chanting, a distinct kind of sonorous psalmody passed over from generation to generation, what Otar Iosseliani captures in reality is the snapshot of a not-so-distant past that coexists with the world we might know yet transports us to what used to be. Although titled 'Georgian Ancient Songs', this 20-minute documentary is not bothered too much with documenting history, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if Iosseliani picked the subject with the sole intention of getting a camera and film stock from the Georgian Film Foundation and going off in the mountains to shoot rents of fog rolling down the slopes. With the Georgian chants in the background, this capsule of Georgian bucolic life with all the hardship and small pleasures mesmerizes with its clarity. Simplicity without gaudiness as Tarkovsky would have it.