In Bloom (2013)

Film Perfection

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

A film from Georgia who speaks directly to the heart of every (non fascist) human being. It is the story of two teenage girls and their friendship in a sexist and oppressive society. The main character, Eka, is so cool and so "right". She is the nice side of humanity.The movie is sad. Everybody knows: the good guys always loose and the bad guys always win. But it is a movie that says things, it is a movie as it should, it is a beautiful movie, and with an absolutely stunning scene: I won't write spoiler, just say this. It is a dance.

Loved this honest film, talking about 90s Georgia, another ex communist country that felt the urge to face its painful past by leaving cinematic testimony of the difficult times. Poverty, social unrest, every day struggle to make ends meet. I'm only surprised this films hasn't come out sooner, but in all honesty, I don't know much about Georgian cinema...so I might have missed earlier social dramas of the kind.It's a spring/summer time in Tbilisi, the nature is in bloom, connected nicely to life and unrest of the blooming youth. And so much poverty and misery! Apparent in the run down buildings, school, houses, everywhere you go traces of decay follow. And we follow lives of two female leads, 14 year old girls Eka and Natia and their friends/family. Just normal teens during abnormal times...something the first world have never experienced at this scale and probably never will. The themes of domestic violence that coincides with violence on bigger plan, having your school crush hand you a gun as a present, walking around with the gun, bringing it to school without teachers noticing or caring, being abducted, deflowered and forced to marry at the age of 14 just doesn't sound like your standard society.But to contrast the violence and omnipresent misery: the world and all the light outside really made a huge impression on me, the beauty of nature against the ugliness of run down communist architecture and rude, nervous behavior of people...so much unrest, and such a still world outside the window,outside society. Seasons shift, governments change, wars end, but nature is always in bloom and relentlessly luscious in spring. As is youth...it should not be depraved of the pleasure of enjoying themselves while the turbulent but sweet youthful years last. Looks like Eka, Natia and others were not as lucky. They were forced to grow up prematurely, much earlier than they should have, than anybody should. Very good film, and important testimony. Nice job!

After the fall of USSR, Georgia finds itself in anarchy, degeneration, decay and depression. All of this is reflected in behavior of its people. The movie paints a bleak landscape at every level: widespread crime, dog-eat-dog atmosphere expressed in bread lines (survival of the fittest); domestic violence - resulted from economic woes + accepted culture of excessive male dominance and drinking; decline in schools (teacher judges and makes fun of students in front of the class, making unpatriotic comments about a student's father fighting in a war with Abghazia). Atmosphere of hopelessness prevails in Georgia except for beautiful, little 14 yo Eka with very sad face. She is the light in this land of darkness, representing Georgian hope and possibly a better future some day. She is not afraid to stand up to societal wrongs, question, support and protect her friends, speak out and shame others for their indifference toward their own society i.e. their country. Eka is the hidden goodness of Georgia, characterized by her mesmerizing dance at the wedding. She is a "uniter, not a divider", able to lift spirits and make her countrymen smile, cry and feel some kind of pride and emotion for their lost and forgotten Georgian-ness.

The story revolves around two 14 year old girls, best friends growing up together in Georgia.Although it's set in 1992, the time-line and history is merely a canvas for a tale of friendship and difficulties in a flawed culture and society. We witness the hardships the two girls have to go through and negative or positive emotional bonds they have with friends/schoolmates/family.There's not much dramatization or cheesy drama going on, since the narrative is documentary-style realism à-la "A Separation". I have to applaud the two young actresses for more-or-less carrying the whole story on their shoulders, with success. Not that the other actors are bad, they all contribute to the authentic atmosphere. It's also hard to ignore the setting, the homes and streets that reek of post communist decay. This felt personal to me, having grown up in an "fresh" democratic Romania, where the circumstances were similar, even if not the same.I can totally recommend "In Bloom" to anyone interested in a good story. This is no Hollywood moneymaker, but I also disagree with another reviewer writing that it's hard to understand for non-Georgians. Cinema is universal.