‘Nandauri‘ is Eti Tsicko‘s feature film debut. And what a debut! The Israeli director – who is also the author of the screenplay – approaches in this film a combination of complex themes such as the encounter between cultures and mentalities, the conflict between modernity and tradition, emigration and the identity crises of those who experience it, forced marriages and family relationships in a world dominated – sometimes by force – by men. She does it with skill and sensitivity, avoiding clichés, strident rhetoric and messages served on a platter. The film asks a series of questions, not all of which find answers and some problems remain suspended, but viewers who choose to see this film will leave the theater with many topics worth reflecting on and with two characters who will accompany them in their thoughts for a while. The title is one of those words that is difficult to translate into other languages, a kind of equivalent of the Romanian word ‘dor’, meaning in Georgian ‘the heart longs to return’. Where to?
Marina, the film’s heroine, is a lawyer who returns to Georgia (the former Soviet republic) where she was born with the mission of obtaining the documents through which her Israeli client can reunite with her 12-year-old son whom she left behind when she fled her parents’ home and a toxic and forced marriage. Returning to the country she left as a child is not easy. She no longer perfectly masters the language (‘you speak strangely’ someone tells her), the cultural differences have deepened, her tendency to master situations as a woman is contrary to local mentalities, and the legal procedure she initiates meets with resistance from the family and especially from Dato, her client’s brother, who had until then raised the child abandoned by his mother. The journey through the country with landscapes of hallucinatory beauty and with people living the transition between tradition and modernity but also the crises generated by the fall of communism and the installation of a cruel form of capitalism, with emigration and new economic and moral rules, will be not only a geographical journey nor just a return to the past but also a journey of self-knowledge.
Many of those who saw ‘Nandauri‘ made the comparison – inevitable by the way – with ‘Late Marriage’, the 2001 film by the director (also of Georgian origin) Dover Koshashvili. There too the dominating themes were the oppressive-patriarchal atmosphere and marriages arranged by the family and sometimes imposed by force, coming into conflict with modern mentalities and with the feelings of young people. As in ‘Late Marriage’ we have in ‘Nandauri‘ a long and hot sex scene, excellently filmed and acted, which overturns the meaning of the plot and the relationships between the characters. I would add to the comparisons another Israeli film that dealt with the problems of the encounter between cultures, of identity and the relations between migrants and their countries of origin: it is the 2010 film by Eran Riklis – ‘The Human Resources Manager’ inspired by a novel by A.B. Yehoshua, the last film in which Rozina Cambos appeared. Riklis’ film was mostly filmed in Romania, Eti Tsicko’s in Georgia. Here, the cinematography signed by Shai Goldman is noteworthy, inspiringly combining the grandeur of nature with the simplicity of the human landscape, incorporating elements of local color with effective symbolism – see the slightly garish coat worn by the main heroine, highlighting the unsuccessful attempt to adapt to the world around her. In my opinion, Neta Riskin has achieved here one of the best roles of her cinematic career so far, for which she even undertook learning Georgian for a year. Her partner is the impressive Georgian actor Roland Okropiridze. The other actors are not credited and I assume that many of them are non-professional actors. In any case, the feeling of authenticity is strong, we can feel and experience the atmosphere, from the harsh climate, passing through the locals’ distrust of foreigners and the fear bordering on horror but addressed with bravado by the visitor, to the warmth of the relationships established when the ice is broken. There is a lot of caution and respect in the depiction of this meeting between cultures, and I think the result is better than in many other films dealing with similar themes, especially because stereotypes are avoided. Even if some themes remain without conclusions or at least would have deserved more in-depth exploration (the fate of the boy, the attitude of the mother who remotely triggered the entire conflict), I think that ‘Nandauri‘ manages to describe a world in transition and the way it faces the good and bad sides of modernity, as well as the price paid for this meeting. I am curious how the film will be received in Georgia and at international festivals. It is certainly worth watching and following the debates that it will suscitate. Eti Tsicko should just continue on the same path.