Tangerinas

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.

First, let me say that I am not by nature a peacenik. That said, I was thoroughly charmed by this anti-war film. In the same vein as films like "Enemy Mine," this film explores the well-trod ground of war and how it affects individual civilians and combatants alike, but does so on a much smaller, more intimate stage than usual war films.

The story throws together men with different ages, nationalities, and religions, and asks whether there is something more basic or more important than these distinctions. What happens when the faceless enemy in the woods becomes a man with his own thoughts and problems? Kudos to the director and all of the actors for portraying realistic characters and for allowing us to believably grow with the characters. Lembit Ulfsak is particularly stellar as Ivo, the "moral man." I think that scriptwriters too often give their characters weight and authority by giving them some defining moment or backstory. Not here. Ivo is defined, instead, by what he does and says in the confines of the film, and it is his moral compass that lead the rest of the characters, and, by extension, us to question our own prejudices.

All in all, a beautiful story beautifully told.

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.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Mandariinid" (2013) is very good movie. Very realistic (well, maybe bonding between two characters was a bit to quick), with beautiful cinematography, very strong acting, tight and simple but very involving script and top notch directing, this is a true movie gem.

The story itself isn't complicated, although the background in which it takes place maybe is not very well know in Western countries. Nevertheless, it is told with simple and universal language.

Overall, "Mandariinid" is not much a war movie - it's antiwar movie in every sense. The isn't much action, but at running time 1 h 22 min this movie is superbly paced, doesn't drag for a second and is very enjoyable for those who like quite but powerful stories.

I'm not aware of the political, historical, religious & ethnic differences between the people depicted in the movie, but I can still relate to them. I mean not in the literal sense but just on human level.

I think, almost always, majority of the people who are fighting a war are not personally affected by its cause. It's something that's just inculcated in them. They are taught to hate the opposite side.

This movie, with a handful of characters, in just so little words, in such a short time, makes you realize that you can empathize with anyone. You should just have the will to do so. Humanity is capable of so much love that there can be no place left for hatred, but sadly we're too busy fighting, every day, every where, in one or another part of the world.

This is a captivating movie from the first frame to the last. The background score uplifts and complements the mood of the movie so beautifully. The acting is sublime, the direction is top notch. The story is really simple and all the charm is in the storytelling.

It makes you question yourself. Whatever your hate is, if you can learn to empathize, then you've lived a life.