Pastorale

I loved this film for its simplicity , typically Russian , Tarkoswki style shots and some great music . a group of musicians from Tbilisi are sent to a remote village in Georgia to practice and there with the medium of a rural girl they try to get to know the people who are totally different than them , but still are their countrymen !

I loved the shot when a train from Russia was passing by and the gazes of all the soldiers and " chic" city people was encountering with those of this poor village .... the characters of the village people are quite funny , very simple, still humorous and humble ...

it showed how different people from different backgrounds can be and how simply they could get to understand their different lifestyles ... the curious way the girl was playing the piano and how anxiously she put the record given by a cellist to her to play was really awesome , i loved this movie !!

The plot is very simple. For some bizarre reason, a string quartet from Tbilisi is sent to spend a summer in a very rural community. The incomprehension is mutual. The community is in the throes of some obscure ancient enmities and hasn't the time to worry about the weird sophisticates who have dropped in. The musicians suddenly find themselves as reluctant anthropologists trying to find a way to function in what they thought was their country. The only connection between these two groups is a girl who is entranced by the music but who knows all too well the enmities. The resolution is of all these conflicts is touching without being even remotely sentimental.

To give you some idea of how good this movie is, you should know that I saw it a year after it was made, in Georgian, without subtitles or a translator. At the end of the film, the audience at Berkeley's Pacific Film Archives rose as one and applauded. It is a wonderful movie.