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A TRIP TO KHARABAKH (GASEIRNEBA KHARABAKHSHI)
By Ken Eisner
Variety
July 17, 2006 - July 23, 2006
(GEORGIA)
A Studio Remka production. (International sales: Studio Remka, Tbilisi,
Georgia.) Produced by Levan Korinteli, Giorgy Kharabadze.
Directed by Levan Tutberidze. Screenplay, Aka Morchiladze, Irakli
Solomonashvili, based on a novel by Morchiladze. Camera (color),
Goran Pavicevic; editor, Niko Tarielashvili, Boris Machytka; music,
Nukri Abashidze; production designers, Gogi Tatishvili, Kote Japaridze;
sound (Dolby SRD), Michael Houdek. Reviewed at Seattle Film Festival
(Contemporary Cinema), June 18, 2006. Running time: 107 MIN.
With: Levan Doborjnidze, Misha Meskhi, Nutsa Kichianidze, Nino
Kasradze, Gogi Kharabdze, Dato Iashvili, Daria Drozdovskaya, Avetik
Sanosian, Gagik Melkumov, Artavazd Paloian, Levon Chidilian.
(Georgian, Russian, Armenian dialogue.)
"A Trip to Kharabakh" gets off to a fascinating start, commenting wryly
on the tumultuous state of affairs in Georgia and its strife-wracked
neighbors. But a shift toward mock heroics and an increasingly vague
p.o.v. cause a terminal fuel shortage as it approaches the finish
line. This "Trip" requires a good grasp of regional politics to sort
out the players and find the humor.
However, even those in the know will find the story gets unnecessarily
muddled, which will limit the journey to specialized fests and limited
DVD play.
Veteran helmer Levan Tutberidze sets his initially "Mean Streets"-like
tale during overlapping civil wars of the early 1990s, but there's
little to distinguish what's happening then with what's happening
today.
Gio (Levan Doborjnidze) is a handsome, notably unmotivated lynchpin
among restless young men in their early 20s. When a relative asks him
to travel to a peasant region disputed by Azerbaijan and Armenia,
to complete a seemingly simple drug deal, he and goofy pal Gogliko
(Misha Meskhi, playing Richard Edson to the protag's Heath Ledger)
agree to go.
They take a wrong turn, however, and end up behind Azeri lines.
Eventually Gio busts loose and ends up with friendlier Armenians.
(Both sides say how much they like Georgians --- it's just the other
group that's no good.) Gio can't tell if he's a guest or prisoner, but
--- as we learn in challengingly structured flashbacks --- it actually
makes for a handy break from pressures at home, where his big-enchilada
dad (Gogi Kharabdze) has come down hard on him for hooking up with
a sad-eyed hooker ("The Good Thief's" Nutsa Kichianidze).
And the old man doesn't realize yet that Gio is also having it off
with dad's pretty, if cynical, young wife (Nino Kasradze).
Once ensconced with the Armenians, Gio is offered yet another love
interest, a Russian photojournalist (Daria Drozdovskaya) who denies
being part of her country's imperialist past since she's Jewish.
Script and Doborjnidze's opaque perf make it hard to grasp why he's
so diffident toward the woman, or anyone else, and helmer moves into
macho posturing as grittily shot tale goes on, with Rambo-like antics
--- albeit possibly satirical --- obscuring the character development
and the subtext about relationships between various ethnic groups.
Electro jazzy score helps lift the mood and fits loosely with Gogliko's
funny Miles Davis fixation, but it also adds extra cheese factor to
"Trip" that already smells a bit overripe toward the end.
By Ken Eisner
Variety
July 17, 2006 - July 23, 2006
(GEORGIA)
A Studio Remka production. (International sales: Studio Remka, Tbilisi,
Georgia.) Produced by Levan Korinteli, Giorgy Kharabadze.
Directed by Levan Tutberidze. Screenplay, Aka Morchiladze, Irakli
Solomonashvili, based on a novel by Morchiladze. Camera (color),
Goran Pavicevic; editor, Niko Tarielashvili, Boris Machytka; music,
Nukri Abashidze; production designers, Gogi Tatishvili, Kote Japaridze;
sound (Dolby SRD), Michael Houdek. Reviewed at Seattle Film Festival
(Contemporary Cinema), June 18, 2006. Running time: 107 MIN.
With: Levan Doborjnidze, Misha Meskhi, Nutsa Kichianidze, Nino
Kasradze, Gogi Kharabdze, Dato Iashvili, Daria Drozdovskaya, Avetik
Sanosian, Gagik Melkumov, Artavazd Paloian, Levon Chidilian.
(Georgian, Russian, Armenian dialogue.)
"A Trip to Kharabakh" gets off to a fascinating start, commenting wryly
on the tumultuous state of affairs in Georgia and its strife-wracked
neighbors. But a shift toward mock heroics and an increasingly vague
p.o.v. cause a terminal fuel shortage as it approaches the finish
line. This "Trip" requires a good grasp of regional politics to sort
out the players and find the humor.
However, even those in the know will find the story gets unnecessarily
muddled, which will limit the journey to specialized fests and limited
DVD play.
Veteran helmer Levan Tutberidze sets his initially "Mean Streets"-like
tale during overlapping civil wars of the early 1990s, but there's
little to distinguish what's happening then with what's happening
today.
Gio (Levan Doborjnidze) is a handsome, notably unmotivated lynchpin
among restless young men in their early 20s. When a relative asks him
to travel to a peasant region disputed by Azerbaijan and Armenia,
to complete a seemingly simple drug deal, he and goofy pal Gogliko
(Misha Meskhi, playing Richard Edson to the protag's Heath Ledger)
agree to go.
They take a wrong turn, however, and end up behind Azeri lines.
Eventually Gio busts loose and ends up with friendlier Armenians.
(Both sides say how much they like Georgians --- it's just the other
group that's no good.) Gio can't tell if he's a guest or prisoner, but
--- as we learn in challengingly structured flashbacks --- it actually
makes for a handy break from pressures at home, where his big-enchilada
dad (Gogi Kharabdze) has come down hard on him for hooking up with
a sad-eyed hooker ("The Good Thief's" Nutsa Kichianidze).
And the old man doesn't realize yet that Gio is also having it off
with dad's pretty, if cynical, young wife (Nino Kasradze).
Once ensconced with the Armenians, Gio is offered yet another love
interest, a Russian photojournalist (Daria Drozdovskaya) who denies
being part of her country's imperialist past since she's Jewish.
Script and Doborjnidze's opaque perf make it hard to grasp why he's
so diffident toward the woman, or anyone else, and helmer moves into
macho posturing as grittily shot tale goes on, with Rambo-like antics
--- albeit possibly satirical --- obscuring the character development
and the subtext about relationships between various ethnic groups.
Electro jazzy score helps lift the mood and fits loosely with Gogliko's
funny Miles Davis fixation, but it also adds extra cheese factor to
"Trip" that already smells a bit overripe toward the end.