Well, it’s Monday…you know what that means. That’s right, time for another installment of Review Stew! Hope your passports are in order because this week we’re off to a war-torn portion of Georgia as we explore…Tangerines (2013).
Title: Tangerines
Director: Zaza Urushadze
Released: October 16, 2013 (Poland – Warsaw Film Festival),theatrically on October 17, 2013 (Georgia)
Runtime: 1 hour 27 minutes
Watched via: Kanopy, also available on Tubi
Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak) and his friend Margus (Elmo Nüganen) are Estonians living in the Abkhazia region of Georgia. War has broken out in the region and their entire community has fled for Estonia, yet they’ve chosen to stay behind.
Margus is determined to harvest his tangerine crop. Not for the money though, rather he feels it would be a shame to have them go to waste. As for Ivo, he’s a carpenter by trade and is building the crates necessary to hold all of the tangerines.
One day, Ivo and Margus find the war in their front yards as Chechen mercenaries and Georgian troops engage in combat. When the dust finally settles, there are two survivors: a Chechen mercenary named Ahmed (Giorgi Nakashidze) and a Georgian soldier named Nika (Misha Meskhi).
Ivo, being the good soul that he is, takes them both in to nurse them back to health. Though there is one condition, both Ahmed and Nika must agree to abstain from violence against each other while under Ivo’s roof.
How can two people trained to hate everything about the other co-exist under the same roof?
In trying to decide what to cover this week, I turned to my world map on my Letterboxd profile. When I look at my all-time stats, I’ve seen at least one movie from 89 different countries. Well, I decided to make that 90 and chose a country I hadn’t seen a movie from yet.
While Tangerines (2013) is an Estonian film, it was their submission and a nominee for Best Foreign Language film, it is also a Georgian film having been entirely filmed there. So, Tangerines (2013) winds up checking the “Georgia” box for me on my world map.
As for the film itself, Tangerines (2013) is a beautiful story about humanity and the ugly randomness of war. Writer and director Zaza Urushadze delivers that message to us in a way that allows it to slowly wash over you rather than beating you over the head with a heavy-handed message.
One of the primary reasons it is successful in this is the work of the cast, specifically Ulfsak as Ivo. He’s able to find the balance in the character of being firm yet compassionate. While he can see the humanity in everyone and be a caring man, he’s also not afraid to put his foot down and be sure that his rules are followed. There’s also a sense of humor in Ivo that helps to bring levity to some tense circumstances.
The cinematography is another reason that Tangerines (2013) works so well. Director of Photography Rein Kotov allows you to fully immerse yourself into Ivo’s home and situation he finds himself in. Rather than feeling like a fly-on-the-wall in Ivo’s, you feel like you’re at the table with him right along with Ahmed and Nika.
A cherry on top of it all would be the runtime. Tangerines (2013) clocks in at only 87 minutes and keeps you captivated for every single one of them.
I cannot recommend this one enough. If you haven’t seen, let alone heard of, Tangerines (2013), hopefully you’ll change that after today.
So, if you have seen Tangerines (2013), what did you think of it?
Tell me all about it in the comments below or by reaching out to me over on Bluesky!
Curious to see what else I’ve been watching lately? Go give me a follow over on Letterboxd!