Film No. 92 (2015) Tangerines December 20th.

Film No. 92 (2015) December 20th.  8.00 PM THE PINES Outdoor Cinema Joondalup.

"The Chechen will heal in a week, but the Georgian, I don't know, it will depend on his body" Ivo (Lembit Ulfsat) tells his business partner Margus (Elmo Nuganen) the state of the health of the two wounded soldiers he takes in and cares for).

This anti-war film, made on a shoestring budget from The Estonian Film Institute deserves all the accolades it has received. Tangerines has a heart the size of a watermelon but never overplays the message it sends.


The simple story of how two Georgian business partners Ivo and Margus take in a pair of soldiers (one Chechen and one Georgian) injured during a skirmish at the front gate of  Margus' Tangerine orchard unfolds with tenderness and brutality where both ingredients balance the other perfectly. It was a pleasure to be transported for a standard 95 minutes to a place where not an image or word is wasted.


The story unfolds in 1992 in Estonia on The Black Sea coast. The war is complicated because while the newly independent Georgian government rules, the separatist people of Abkhazia continue to fight for land they believe is theirs. Some of their fighters are contracted in from other regions so when a Georgian (Niko, Misha Meskhi)and a Chechen mercenary (Ahmed, Giorgi Nakashidze) fighting for the Abkhazian forces end up in the care of a carpenter Ivo and orchardist Margus a separate battle again threatens.


Tangerines gradually unfolds its story and at the same time we grow to know all four characters, Ivo, Margus, Ahmed (the Mercenary) and Niko (the Georgian). As we spend time with them, mostly in the confines of Ivo's cottage, we learn about history, loyalty, family, business but most of all we leave convinced about the futility of war. This film, through the eyes of Georgian film-maker(Urushadze)is a wonderful contribution to the anti-war genre. 10GUMS