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Otar losseliani
became a filmmaker
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overnight.
I have a feeling...
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00:00:08,056 --> 00:00:10,581
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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00:03:40,702 --> 00:03:44,160
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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00:05:05,687 --> 00:05:10,215
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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00:05:16,598 --> 00:05:19,567
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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00:08:03,698 --> 00:08:06,758
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.
12148
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