What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?

The 2018 World Cup is revisited in a stunningly original, romantic Georgian folktale.

This is only the second film from the Georgian writer/director Alexandre Koberidze (his first was 2017’s Let the Summer Never Come Again but that was not released here). It won for him the FIPRESCI award at the 2021 Berlinale and one should acknowledge at once that it reveals him as a filmmaker with a vision that is all his own. This degree of originality is rare and I find myself having to balance my huge admiration for that achievement against the less happy factors which increasingly come to the fore as the film proceeds.

You don't have to see the film to be aware that Koberidze has embarked on a risky project for that is surely inherent in the fact that the film’s running length is 150 minutes despite the fact that the story is one that sounds suited to a much shorter piece. Told by an off-screen narrator (the voice is that of Koberidze himself), this is the story of Lisa and Giorgi who, living in the city of Kutaisi, meet by chance and find themselves in love even before they keep the date that they have agreed upon for the next day. However, this is a fairytale narrative so the narrator tells us that these two have been cursed by an Evil Eye This spell takes away the skills which have given Lisa a job in a pharmacy and deprive Giorgi of the ability which has enabled him to play in the local football team. But these changes are secondary. What really matters is that both of them are physically transformed so that when they turn up for the date agreed neither can recognise the other. In terms of the casting, this means that Lisa is played first by Oliko Barbakadze and then by Ani Karseladze while Giorgi is initially Giorgi Ambroladze and then Giorgi Bochorishvili. The question now is whether or not the love of this couple can ever be fulfilled when it would seem that it has become impossible for them to transcend the curse that has hidden their identities.

In one sense the situation is not without a distant echo of the famous story of non-recognition featured in The Shop Around the Corner (1940) which would sprout remakes including 1998’s You've Got Mail. But here we have a fantastical element that goes far beyond the idea of lovers who don't recognise that somebody whom they find distasteful in person is actually identical with the individual they have fallen for sight unseen when communicating at a distance (by correspondence in 1945 but online in 1998). In a way that stresses this film’s fanciful nature that takes it into another realm altogether, we find our narrator assuring us that after the curse has been declared three distinct sources will warn Lisa of what has happened to her, these sources being a seedling, a surveillance camera and an old iron gutter. We learn too that a passing car has prevented the wind from completing the message which would have clarified her situation further. To refer to these sources as though they could speak is to pile on the whimsy alarmingly when the central situation is already whimsical enough. Yet, against the odds, Koberidze brings it off.

This is a film which in presenting such a tale nevertheless readily acknowledges that spells are outdated and in doing so it achieves a tone that is genuinely charming and witty (as witness the way in which Lisa and Giorgi twice encounter each other by chance at the outset). Other prominent figures are a café owner (Vakhtang Fanchulidze), a friend of Lisa’s (Sofio Tchanishvili) and a trio who are in town to make a film about loving couples (two of them are played by the director’s own parents). Nevertheless, it could be said that aside from Lisa and Giorgi it is the city itself which takes on the other central role. The camera of Faraz Fesharaki catches its atmosphere bringing a magical touch to night-time scenes when Kutaisi is lit up. Furthermore, many scenes without dialogue feature passers-by, youngsters among them, while in addition dogs also play a part. There is another vital ingredient in the music score provided by the director’s brother Giorgi Koberidze which functions alongside telling extracts from classical works by the likes of Debussy and Schubert. What emerges from all of this is not only idiosyncratic but something that strongly indicates that the director has an intense affection for people and for lives that are unexceptional yet still deserve to be cherished. He brings to his work an observational sense which, humorous or not, is as acute as that of the late Jacques Tati.

What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? moves relatively quickly at first but then in its second half it slows up considerably. The fact that the characters include filmmakers becomes important to the story but other aspects are dwelt upon which, considered in combination and given the time devoted to them, seem unnecessary and ultimately rather tiresome diversions from the main story thread. These include the city’s fascination with viewing the World Cup (fancifully portraying dogs as actual football fans is arguably a step too far!), the detailed shooting problems that occur on the film being made by the visitors and a section about the cooking of cakes. Perhaps Koberidze wants to persuade the audience that everyday occurrences deserve to be appreciated but, if that was his purpose, I failed to meet his expectations finding these long-drawn-out scenes off-putting. Nor was I quite sure what weight to give to the narrator’s indication that terrible and violent things were happening but that making a film which apparently ignored them was justified if that film preferred its own world which would ultimately celebrate love. The final shot is patently optimistic but when the narrator, tongue-in-cheek, declares that he just doesn't get it I found myself in no small part echoing that sentiment. Yet at its best this is extraordinary, a film possessed of a signature unlike any other.

Original title: Ras vkhedavt, rodesac cas vukurebt?

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Giorgi Bochorishvili, Ani Karseladze, Oliko Barbakadze, Giorgi Ambroladze, Sofio Tchanishvili, Iriną Chelidze, David Koberidze, Sofio Sharashidze, Vakhtang Fanchulidze, Vakhtang Panchulidze.

Dir Alexandre Koberidze, Pro Mariam Shatberashvili, Screenplay Alexandre Koberidze, Ph Faraz Fesharaki, Pro Des Maka Jebirashvili, Ed Alexandre Koberidze, Music Giorgi Koberidze, Costumes Nino Zautashvili.

New Matter Films/Sakdoc Film/Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB)-NewWave Films.
150 mins. Germany/Georgia. 2021. US Rel: 7 January 2022. UK Rel: 25 November 2022. Cert. U.