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Otar losseliani
became a filmmaker

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overnight.
I have a feeling...

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he didn't need any training.

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His very first project
as a student

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reflected the style
and subject matter

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in all his films,
and I remember at film school

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we laughed when they showed
"Sapovnela,"

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the simply told story

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of a man growing flowers
in the mountains.

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That film proclaimed
the superiority of the natural

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over the artificial:

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flowers that grow in fields
are more spontaneous,

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they're much more beautiful

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than decorative,
hand-planted flowers.

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His next films perpetuated

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that deceptive simplicity,

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which was incredibly
sophisticated and authentic.

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By "deceptive simplicity"

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I mean something like a diamond

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whose transparency

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is more precious
than color is to other stones.

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When Otar finished
his first feature film,

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which he wryly called
"Falling Leaves,"

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a lot of people said:
"This is a conventional film

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about a young, honest,
nalve hero who stops...

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a bad wine from being bottled."

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But the plot
of this Soviet production

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veils an essential issue:

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honor, and the dignity
of those people

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who cannot

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stand

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to be ruled by lies

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and can only do one thing:
boycott the wine,

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boycott the work methods.

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It's a celebration
at the end of the film,

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when the hero refuses
to sign the certificate

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that guarantees it's quality wine.

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There's a sense of freedom
in the film,

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it almost feels
like a documentary:

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Otar had no qualms
about shooting in natural settings.

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I remember the first showing

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of "Falling Leaves"

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for the editors
of "Sovetski Ekran" magazine.

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A notable American critic

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had said:
"Now there's a real filmmaker!"

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And we agreed with him.

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He asked me to decipher
the title, "Falling Leaves."

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"Why 'Falling Leaves? '
Because of the Fall?"

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I found out much later.

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Falling leaves
are a reference to October.

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October has a certain
symbolic significance in Russia.

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The Russian title
said "October" in Ukrainian.

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It was a sort of tribute

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to Otar's mentor: Dovzhenko.

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In Georgian, the film is called

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"The Month of St. George,"
the patron saint of Georgia,

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which implies that the film

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was dedicated to a patron saint

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you can not lie to.

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Then they had their first
run-in with censorship,

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with that film and
"There Once Was A Singing Blackbird."

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I don't think any of Otar's films
were spared those problems.

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No one could figure out
why the film was banned.

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They said: "Soviet power
is under-represented."

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That was true and false.

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There were signs of Soviet power.

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But they were in quotation marks.

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"There Once Was A Singing Blackbird"
is a film

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about the hustle and bustle
of daily life,

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and wasted time...

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that could be better spent.

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At first glance,
the subject is

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a man who rushes through life,

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never writing anything
that remotely resembles

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Bach, the symbol
of talent and creation.

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It's really about
knowing how to live.

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Life is the most
precious thing there is,

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as well as the most fragile.

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Surprisingly, people saw themselves
in the film,

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even those who couldn't see

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beauty in life,
or beauty in women,

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one way or another,
they were able

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to beat the drum.

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They knew Otar's films
were about anyone

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who couldn't, or wouldn't

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adhere to the values
imposed on them,

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and demanded exploits
and heroic acts.

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The film has a touch of heroism
but depicts real life.

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The film makes
a surprising statement:

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it declares that life

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and the relationships
formed between people

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are the only true values.

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We are struck by Guia's ability

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to see everything around him.

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With a microscope, telescope,
or the naked eye,

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if something could be seen,

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he had the time to see it,
and his short life

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was a symbol to us

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of what life should be about,

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despite day-to-day worries.

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Otar wanted to call his film
"All the Livelong Day"

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because nobody knew
Georgian fairy tales start with...

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"There Once Was A Singing Blackbird."

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I asked him: "Otar,

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why did you choose
such a dull title?

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what does
'AII the Livelong Day' mean?

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The problems that poison our lives?"

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That title ruined everything,

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it removed

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the philosophical twist
that fairy tales have.

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All I could say was: "Otar!

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If you don't use
the Georgian title,

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how will the spectators know? "

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Fortunately, he kept the title,

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and I'm proud I played a part

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in resolving the issue,
and now everyone knows...

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the film

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by this rich, poetic title

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that's also grounded in the people.
"Pastorale"...

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The deceptive "Pastorale"...

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about country life
suddenly revealed

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the cracks

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in a so-called
homogeneous society,

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the mountain villagers'
sense of pride,

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people who lived

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without heeding

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what the State
tried to impose on them.

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When Otar came to show
the film at Mosfilm studio,

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I was working on restoring
"Battleship Potemkin."

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Otar got his friends together,

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Marlen Khutsiev, Alexander Mitta,
and Andrei Tarkovsky,

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who came with his wife
and a bouquet.

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Andrei was sitting

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in front of me.
I saw him concentrate on the film,

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and I felt he wanted
to see something in it

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that he had never seen
but couldn't describe.

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When it was over,

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he turned to congratulate Otar

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and said to me later:

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"What a strange film!"

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Yes, it's a strange film

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if we consider it

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using the classic criteria

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for 18th-century pastoral films

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or the conflict-free pastorals
of the Stalin era.

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It's a surprising

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and prophetic film.

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It seems to me that "Pastorale,"
which was rarely shown

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and deliberately
poorly distributed,

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though the censors
couldn't attack it

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and had no choice

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but to give the film
a distribution visa.

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But the film...

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did away with

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the bucolic tenderness

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that propaganda
specialists expected.

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It was also Otar's farewell
to his country.

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Otar emigrated to France,

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taking Georgia with him.

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When fired from his own Academy,
Lomonossov said:

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"I'm not leaving the Academy,
the Academy is leaving me."

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I feel the same
about Otar losseliani.

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To know his work,
you have to know Georgia.

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Otar and Georgia are inseparable.