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Since Otar Left

Since Otar Left (2003)

September. 17,2003
|
7.5
| Drama

The one joy in the lives of a mother and daughter comes from the regular letters sent to them from Paris from the family's adored son, Otar. When the daughter finds out that Otar has died suddenly, she tries to conceal the truth from her mother, changing the course of their lives forever.

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Reviews

Jonah Abbott
2003/09/17

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

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Fatma Suarez
2003/09/18

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

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Kinley
2003/09/19

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

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Fleur
2003/09/20

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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filmalamosa
2003/09/21

A Georgian mother's son lives in France. The mother lives for him more than anything in life. He dies and her daughter starts sending forged letters to keep her mother from finding out. This film proves a point. The writer trumps everything. All the cinematography acting directing cannot make bad writing good. (As an aside, the converse is unfortunately not true--a good story can be easily ruined.) In any case, this was a great script with a foreign twist (filmed in Georgia). It was well enough written to be a 10.I took off a couple stars because the old lady was too cloy to totally believe. Everything was there for a 10 but it is just a little too sentimental "feel good" and cliché. On the plus side there were some quite funny unexpected exchanges e.g. the post office scene (the writer!).The surprise ending bumped it up to an 8.RECOMMEND

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JustApt
2003/09/22

Post-Soviet Georgia, impoverishment and depression, an old and unwell mother lives with her daughter and granddaughter while her dear son who is a doctor due to unemployment has gone to France as a working man. The mother lives in constant waiting for a next letter from him or a telephone call and to see Otar again before her death became a sole purpose of her life. One day her daughter learns that her brother has died in an accident, she is afraid for her mother so both younger women hide the grave news. They begin to falsify letters and show them to the old woman who begins to suspect that something is wrong. The psychological drama Since Otar Left is extremely sad and compassionate film.

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FilmCriticLalitRao
2003/09/23

Since Otar has left is a humanist tale directed by Julie Bertucelli who in the past worked as assistant to great Georgian master of cinema Otar Iosseliani.This film can be likened to Samuel Beckett's famous play "Waiting for Godot" as in both these works of art the important focal element is that of patience.For those who are into serious cinema mention must be made of Hungarian classic film "Szerelem" directed by Makk Karoly.Both these films have a lot of common elements namely protagonists who are not near their families as well as brave women who carry on with their own personal lives in the absence of a male member in their life.Some astute viewers might like to know about Georgia-France connection as depicted in the film.This comes from the fact that one of the film's characters is interested in French language and literature and for that purpose at her home,she has a very good collection of classics of French literature.The only defect of this film is its innocuous end which might appear as too deceitfully agreeable to some astute viewers.

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alexduffy2000
2003/09/24

"Since Otar Left" is a really good film with some wonderful acting from the three protagonists, Eka (Esther Gorintin), Marina (Nino Khomasuridze) and Ada (Dinara Drukarova). The plot, without spoiling any of the twists and turns, is simply this: in the beginning of the film, Eka's son Otar, who is also Marina's brother and Ada's uncle, dies while working abroad illegally in France, so Marina and Ada keeping writing the letters that Eka is used to receiving from Otar. It's a lot like "Goodbye Lenin," in that there's a deception going on in the name of love, except this film is not a comedy. The film takes place in the former soviet republic of Georgia, and I got the feeling it's a quaint backwater that many of its citizens would leave if they could. The first half was kind of slow, but the plot twists in the second half had me on the edge of my seat. Esther Gorintin as the grandmother Eka gives a wonderful performance, no one is going to pull the wool over the eyes of this old lady.

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