Since Otar Left

Starring:Esther Gorintin, Nino Khomasuridze, Dinara Drukarova, Temur Kalandadze, Rusudan Bolqvadze, Sasha Sarishvili, Duta Skhirtladze, Abdellah Moundy, Mzia Eristavi, Misha Eristavi, Zoura Natrochvili, Alexandre Makhorablichvili, Micha Moudjiri, Jacques Fleury, FrÃ©dÃ©ric Payen, Manon Abacjodze, Manana Taralachvili, Irina Toukhoulova, MÃ©dÃ©a Roinichvili, Iago Demetrachvili
Director: Julie Bertucelli
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
Product Type: DVD

Description

Julie Bertuccelli's acclaimed first feature is a charming, bittersweet tale of deception and affection. Three women—strong-willed Eka (90-year-old Esther Gorintin), her long-suffering daughter Marina and rebellious granddaughter Ada (FREEZE, DIE, COME TO LIFE's Dinara Droukarova)—live together in contemporary Tbilisi, Georgia. As they weather the routine power and water outages that plague the former Soviet republic, Eka pines for her beloved son Otar, a physician-turned-construction worker in Paris. Marina is as resentful of her mother's obsession as Ada is supportive, until they receive tragic news from France that will change their lives forever…. Former assistant director to Tavernier and Kieslowski, Bertuccelli deftly spins the delicate threads of familial conflict and maternal love into a bewitching tangle of intergenerational duplicity. This Edition features 12 deleted scenes and an extensive behind-the-scenes documentary.

Customer Reviews:

Georgia on my mind . . ........2006-10-20

I loved this film. It opened a window onto a world I'd never seen in a film before - Tblisi in Georgia (former soviet republic) - and while it moves slowly as a story, who cares? Its three central characters are the core of a wonderful ensemble of actors. The joy of the film is in the nuances, from the very opening scene, where a disparaging sidelong glance is all a white-haired mother needs to give to discourage her middle-aged daughter from taking a nibble from the old woman's piece of cake. The action speaks volumes.

Meanwhile, there is the day-by-day struggle to put food on the table and somehow survive in this new capitalist economy, where everyone it seems is at the flea market trying to sell household goods and other belongings for a little money to keep things going. A birthday gathering brings together a room full of friends and relatives, singing songs that begin sadly and then grow in volume, as guests leap up to dance. A daughter asks her mother if a man they see in uniform looks like her father, a casualty in Afghanistan. Two unmarried people in their middle years carry on a friendly relationship, and one remarks off-handedly to the other, "I wish I were in love with you." The same woman shampoos her mother's hair, as the old woman complains bitterly that the water is either too hot or too cold.

While there is an arc to the film involving a much loved son gone to work in Paris and the unfortunate circumstances leading to a series of lies meant to cover them up, it doesn't matter as much as the slow progress of one thing after another in a city where hope is on hold and getting by and little victories are enough. Definitely for lovers of small, independent films. The DVD includes lengthy featurettes devoted to the film's production.

Dull.......2006-08-03

Since Otar Left takes place in Paris and Georgia. Not the state, but the country that was once part of the USSR. It's about there generations of women. Mother, daughter and granddaughter. The middle age daughter and granddaughter kept a lie about Otar. He died in Paris but the daughter didn't want to tell her mom. Otar was mother's favorite child and the reasons the daughter wouldn't tell was because she thought it would break her heart. She was also afraid that Otar would become a saint in her mother's eyes and she didn't want to live with that. I felt the the daughter, taking care of a parent who doesn't appreciate you isn't easy (I know from experience!).

I really wanted to like this movie but I couldn't. I did like the grandmother's performance. Actually, the acting in general was pretty good. I just felt it was slow moving. In general I like foreign films because it's often about people and their relationships. But this was just boring to me. I just couldn't get myself to feel much for the characters.

Surviving by living a fiction.......2006-06-12

Life in Tbilisi in 2002 for the three generations of women at the center of this film--the indomitable 90-year old Eka, her cynical daughter Marina, and her dutiful teenage granddaughter Ada-- is not very easy. The electricity and the water in their formerly elegant apartment is intermittent, and the only sources of income are what little Marina can make by selling household objects in the city park and the money sent to them from Paris by Eka's beloved son Otar, who has left Georgia to eke out a better life. The film starts by letting us get caught up in the rhythms of these women's lives as they squabble, complain, tend to one another, and wait for Otar to contact his doting mother by phone of by letter--and then a disaster occurs when Marina and Ada discover that Otar has died while illegally working on a construction site. Fearful of devastating the physically fragile Eka, they concoct an elaborate lie that he is still alive and sending his mother letters Ada pens.

On its own terms, this little film--the first-time effort of Julie Bertocelli--is just about perfect. The characters are beautifully layered, so that our initial opinions of them become slowly changed as the film progresses so we see that Eka is much more generous, Marina more fragile, and Ada more independent than we initially are led to believe. The film is an extended meditation on nostalgia, and how we cling to our pasts to survive and expect our loved ones to do the same; it's also a study of beauty, and Bertocelli's lovely use of composition and color show us why living in Shevardnaze's slowly disintegrating Georgia after the fall of the USSR has its compensations. This is an excellent film--one that has a subject matter that will seem unfamiliar to many Western viewers who do not know Tbilisi or Georgia, but one that is both rich and repaying.

Lies and Deception: The Price of Love!.......2006-01-04

Since Otar Left is a touching story about three generations of women living together in Soviet Republic enduring the hardships of the home where electricity and water cut off periodically.

A ninety year old Grandmother, Eka lives with her daughter Marina and granddaughter Ada. Grandmother Eka son's has left for France to work and he corresponds through letters and phone calls; he also includes money in the letters. Grandmother stops everything to take his call and has granddaughter Ada read the letters, because Ada reads them better than Marina.

We learn immediately about the profound love Eka has for her son and how daughter Marina feels slighted over her mother's love for Otar. We do not see Otar, we only know of his presence among the family. Then, news arrives that Otar is dead. Mother Marina and Ada decide to lie to Eka and embark on a web of deception to keep the truth from her. Ada starts creating letters from Otar, but no money is included. Phone calls don't come from Otar and Grandmother is suspicious.

The deception continues and Grandmother has an urge to find out for herself and arranges a trip for all three to France, where Otar was working.

Ester Gorintin's (Eka) performance is powerful. Her role is not heavy in dialogue or action. Her face doesn't reveal lots of emotion, but it is in her eyes, her body movements, her mannerisms. You get great insight into her maternal love for her son via the only communication avenues she is left with, mail and phone calls.

The languages spoken are Russian and French with English subtitles. The DVD features director Julie Bertucelli in making of scenes and photos. See this film with the entire family. ......MzRizz

What a wonderful surprise!.......2005-12-22

Thank God for the Sundance Channel or I'd probably never have stumbled upon this utter gem. If some of the plot elements of "Since Otar Left" tempt you to dismiss it as some sort of "girlie film" or some sort of "weepie" only women might be able to enjoy or understand, all I can say is, please don't dismiss it that way because it's much broader and deeper in scope and impact than that, as can be gathered from the other fine reviews already posted here by others who've seen the film.

If you're a glutton for great screenplays and tour-de-force acting, you owe it to yourself to see "Since Otar Left" because you will not believe, until you see it, how amazing Esther Gorintin's performance is as the problematical, adorable matriarch. If you're still not quite sure that this is "your type of movie," give it a chance, and I guarantee you, it'll suck you right in.

There's a wordless glance, a silent timeless moment, passing between grandmother and granddaughter toward the end of the film that's so sublime it'll knock your socks off and leave you screaming inside your own head: "Why oh why aren't we making more movies like this in the United States?" Maybe it's because our film directors or screen writers are terrified of silent timeless moments onscreen and are constantly taking the easy way out, attempting to force into the spoken word (or into the flashy special effect) everything that can never be said that way.

Won't find that type of nonsense here. The dialog in "Since Otar Left" is brilliant (and the subtitles do it justice), but it's really all in the eyes.

Since Otar Left [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]

Average customer rating:

Deeply engaging

Since Otar Left [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]
Director: Julie Bertucelli
Manufacturer: Palace Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Australia released, PAL/Region 4 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: English Subtitles French Dolby Digital 2.0 Russian Dolby Digital 2.0 Synopsis: A family is forced into deception for the sake of their matriarch in this poignant drama. Three generations of women share a tiny apartment in Tbilisi, a Georgia city that has been devastated by war, political instability, and a ruined economy. Eka (Esther Gorintin) is an elderly woman whose health is failing, but her will remains strong and she holds sway over the household. Eka's daughter, Marina (Nino Khomassouridze), is a middle-aged woman who is still dealing with the devastating circumstances of her childhood and the death of her husband. And Marina's daughter, Ada (Dinara Droukarova), is a college student who feels trapped by her circumstances and abraded by her lack of privacy; she has a lover, but since she must share a bed with her mother, they can only make love in his car. The light of Eka's life is her son, Otar, who has fled Tbilisi and lives in Paris. Otar writes frequently and sends money as often as he can, and while Marina resents her mother's obvious favoritism toward her brother, she and Ada realize how important his letters are to her. While Eka is visiting friends, Marina and Ada receive devastating news -- Otar has died in Paris, and since he wasn't carrying his visa when his body was found, he's been buried in an unmarked pauper's grave. Afraid this news would be a severe blow to Eka's poor health, Marina doesn't tell her mother what has happened, and Ada begins writing letters as Otar to maintain the illusion that he's alive. The ruse works well enough until Eka announces she's raised enough money by selling her possessions to visit her son in France. The film was screened at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Extras: Interactive Menu Biographies Photo Gallery Scene Access Trailer(s)

Customer Reviews:

Deeply engaging.......2006-03-31

Despite that this is a French production, majority of the movie is set in Georgia (Russia) of a Georgian family that speaks French. Otar is the GP son who decides to go to France to earn more hard currency. Once in a while, he shall call his mother in Georgia and from the mother's body language, we know that she's the mother's boy. The mother stays with her daughter and grand daughter. The movie is made without much fuss and it gleams through effortlessly. Then, tragedy strikes and Otar is dead. To spare the feeling of the old woman, the daughter (coercing her own daughter to play along), they concoct an excuse that due to work reasons Otar couldn't call back anymore. Instead, "he" resorts to writing lengthy letters. The twist comes back towards the third quarter of the movie when the old lady surprises everyone else by booking all of them air tickets to visit Otar in France. The ending is handled with much sensitivity. Here, amid the strife that family is going through day in and day out, one thing remains, blood is thicker than water. We would do irrational things at times for the love of our loved ones unconditionally. As revealed in the movie, it is akin to a metaphor of the ex-Russia where people live through the lies and the question raised is that what happens when the lies are revealed and how are people are going to live through the truths? Would that make their lives better or worse? A remarkable film made by a first time Director. Highly recommended. Forgettable extras.

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