|
Viewers
expecting to enjoy the luscious landscapes of the
Caucasus in Hiner Saleem's "Vodka Lemon" will be
disappointed. However, the new film (shot partly in
Russian) from the Kurdish director, long based in
Paris, creates some unforgettable visual moments,
centered on the bleak winter landscape of a remote
Armenian village. And there's much to relish in the
film's sense of place, as well as in its main
characters.
The film's central location, which captures the
sheer remoteness, and the timelessness, of a certain
kind of post-Soviet desolation, is the village
cemetery. Saleem's opening scene is impressive,
mixing elements of surreal comedy with a sense of
reality that has led critics to compare "Vodka
Lemon" to the films of Georgian director Otar
Iosseliani (who is also based in Paris, where he has
been for more than two decades).
In the opening scene, a funeral is underway, and a
bedridden old man wishes to attend it. This poses no
problem, however, as the other mourners haul him to
the cemetery on his bed, which is hitched behind a
truck. Once he gets there, he removes his false
teeth and accompanies the musicians on his duduk, a
traditional Armenian instrument, as they play their
parting tribute. The periodic appearance throughout
the film of a lone horseman galloping through the
village -- for no explained reason -- is another
surreal visual touch of which Iosseliani would
surely be proud.
In the film's main development, however, the
cemetery becomes the scene for a more subtle, less
extravagant interaction between the two main
characters. Hamo (Romik Avinian), who comes there
regularly to visit the grave of his late wife, meets
Nina (Lala Sarkissian), who pays similar respect to
her deceased husband. Moving between the tombstones,
whose engraved faces carry their own eloquent
messages, they gradually interact, bonding further
as they travel home on a run-down bus.
This marks the start of an affecting relationship,
which recalls Saleem's first film "Vive la mariee
... et la liberation du Kurdistan." In that 1997
film, a Parisian Kurd bows to pressure from his
family to choose a mail-order bride from home, only
to discover that his order has been mixed up. He
receives the wrong bride, but they cope with the
consequences in a very human way.
In "Vodka Lemon" there is a similar balance between
comedy and compassion. Hamo expects his three sons
to support him in his old age, but to no avail. One
has stayed in the village, but he is an unemployed
drunk, and the support, if anything, goes in the
opposite direction; the second is far away in
Central Asia; and the third is in France, which
motivates the film's rare excursions to an urban
environment. In these scenes, Hamo goes to Yerevan
hoping to receive a cash remittance from his son.
Ultimately, however, his missions end in vain.
Meanwhile, Nina is working at the roadside bar that
gives the film its title. Although it is the place
where locals congregate (for lack of anywhere else
to go), business is bad and closure is very much on
the horizon. The villagers only survive by selling
whatever possessions they have left -- including, in
a memorable final scene with the two leads, a piano
that they struggle to move to the roadside, only to
change their minds in the episode's poignant
conclusion.
In the hands of another director, "Vodka Lemon"
could have emphasized social commentary. Saleem,
however, avoids that direction, though there are
moments that reflect the difficult circumstances of
everyday life. "Before the Russians left we didn't
have our freedom, but we had everything else," says
one character succinctly, referring to the
post-Soviet shortages of water and electricity, as
well as their spiraling cost.
The Armenian element in the film is dominant --
certainly in terms of casting -- although its
financing came mainly from France, Switzerland and
Italy. This international support has led to
international recognition: "Vodka Lemon" was
Armenia's nomination last year for the Best Foreign
Film Oscar, and it was screened in a supporting
program at the 2003 Venice Film Festival.
The European contribution is most evident on the
technical front, especially in Christophe Pollock's
cinematography, which beautifully captures both the
environment and the individuals who eke out their
existence within it. The score by Michel Korb and
Roustam Sadoyan is no less evocative.
Saleem's major achievement in "Vodka Lemon" is that
he creates and controls an extremely sensitive
emotional narrative out of the bleakest subject
matter. It makes his newest project, titled "Kilometer
Zero," seem all the more intriguing -- the director
was set to return to his native Kurdistan to film a
similarly human story, in what his producers touted
as the first feature film to be shot in Iraq after
the U.S.-led
invasion. However, circumstances appear to have
delayed the project.
"Vodka Lemon" (Vodka-Limon) is playing in Russian at
Fitil.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com
Top |
® 