2010 LAFF Screen Report and Reaction: Street Days, dir. Levan Koguashvili GEORGIA (warning: spoiler in the Reaction portion)
Screen Report
When I first saw on the official program a film from Georgia, I wondered when film festivals started listing the state in which the film was produced. It was shortly after Street Days began I learned that it was the country of Georgia from which this film came. I’m just kidding, of course, but I think most of the audience at the screener knew little about Georgia (minus that whole spat with Russia) and probably even fewer have been to Georgia or watched a film from there. That being said, I must’ve heard a couple of wow’s when the credits appeared in the very first frame, which was written in Kartuli, the native script of Georgians. It looked like something out of Lord of the Rings and right then and there most of the audience probably realized they were in for a voyage to a new world that seems as distant as Middle-Earth.
That journey that transpired on the screen was much less a drive through the countryside and more of a roller coaster of emotions, varying with unexpected speed and intensity. It is a style that is reflected throughout the film, with (dark) humor quickly turning into tragedy and prodding conversation flipping at once to physical violence. We see this as well in the film’s bigger picture, as dir. Koguashvili guides us through this small corner of the world called Georgia, two thoughts become apparent: This is a film where the nuances and sensibilities of both culture and language, of history and perspective, will make it hard for audiences to fully understand. That was certainly a prevailing thought as I watched this film, that I’m missing the subtleties that someone familiar with Georgia or is Georgian would understand. Far from being a deterrent to the film, though, I found this handicap rather as a point of positive engagement and watched with a genuine curiosity much like an outsider looking in. This film isn’t entirely indecipherable, however. The social issues and consequences of drugs, gangs, corruption and social stagnation that travels along with our main protagonist Checkie (Guga Kotetishvili) are certainly understandable and digestible. In addition, the film is interesting for the mere fact that, in my opinion, even the well-versed Western film critic becomes a typical tourist; in other words, it’s a pioneering journey of a new experience for all who wish to travel, leaving behind any preconceived notion (if there could be any) of a world like this.
On screen, Street Days is inherently bleak and almost every way depressing. Soviet-era architecture and design are evident in the buildings but there is nothing redeeming either in the building or in the street. The dilapidated roads, sidewalks and walls are pock-marked and the trees that line the roads are stripped of any signs of life. Add these drab images with the winter-clothed characters of the film and the screen image might as well have been monochrome instead of Technicolor. The characters themselves, of course, are a reflection of their surrounding aesthetics, middle-aged men hanging around, in front of the school no less, all day long jonesing for a hit of heroine. It is indeed a sad picture and certainly mirrors the image of Russia’s “lost generation” as we witness this slice of life in a former Soviet-bloc member.
One can’t help reacting to the film with sad and solemn feelings, a heavy heart that wonders how a world wrapped in that kind of social turmoil can find hope. In the ending scene with Checkie and Ika (Irakli Ramishvili), Dir. Koguashvili gives us a glimmer of hope, a small notion that there still exists goodness and a moral conscience, embodied within our main protagonist. However, this is not without a great price and a sobering realization that any hope is still not within the realistic imagination. As the film ends, dir. Koguashvili brings us to the classroom of singing children, prodding audiences to take note of the next generation and to ask the question “who is next?” Is there hope or will the vicious cycle continue?
Screen Reaction
Heard around the theater: "great, liked it"..."interesting character with moral conscience"..."didn't understand whether that school was a good school...why was the wealthy son at that school? and what about the rich girl?"..."bleak scenery but there were moments of compassion"..."slow in the beginning but picked up in the middle"..."when the father jumped out, very powerful and there was a run of emotions in that moment"
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