BLUE MOUNTAINS, OR UNBELIEVABLE STORY
(ცისფერი მთები ანუ დაუჯერებელი ამბავი)
Dir. Eldar Shengelaia, 1983.
Georgia. 97 min.
In Georgian with English subtitles.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 - 7:30PM
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 - 10PM
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 - 5PM
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 - 10PM

The film concerns a young writer, Soso, attempting to get his novel—the titular Blue Mountains—read by the editorial board of a state-run publishing company. His hopes are dashed in a comedy of errors as his attempts to have the manuscript reviewed are thwarted by everyone else’s preoccupations: chess games, lunches, vacation time, suspicious husbands, constant meetings, the vibrations from neighboring games of motoball (or is it the subway?), and most importantly, a painting of Greenland threatening to fall from its precarious perch.

Season’s pass as Soso’s visits to his publisher grow increasingly hectic and frustrating as he bounces from office to office, and nothing seems to progress or get done. Like the bureaucracy stifling Soso’s progress, where everyone is looking up at someone else to pass the buck to, the employees’ eyes are literally looking upward as the ceiling in the building cracks and plaster rains down upon them. Will they do anything to stop the impending doom? Or will their reliance on the system be their downfall?

The film’s popularized English title uses “unbelievable” to describe the story, whereas “improbable” or “incredible” may be a more apt translation. Considering this is Shengelaia’s last film before entering Georgian Parliament 6 years later, one can infer that his treatment by, and experience with, the bureaucracy of the Soviet film industry spurred this poison pen classic. To the members of this theater’s volunteer collective, this film will either be seen as cathartic, charming, hilarious, and be received with cheers of “preach!”; or be a trigger for the PTSD that comes with collectivism, and be seen as far too real.