Cinema
თეთრი ქარავანი
Eldar Shengelaia · 1963
Synopsis
Each autumn, a white caravan comes down from the Georgian mountains to the lowlands of the Caspian, driving the flocks across the steppe. Among the shepherds, Gela, son of old Martia, meets Maria, a fisherman's daughter, by the sea. She dreams of a house in which to raise children, he of a city life far from the road, and he must say which of the two he wants.
Context
The film is credited to two directors, Tamaz Meliava and Eldar Shengelaia, from a screenplay by Merab Eliozishvili; the black-and-white photography is by Leonid Kalashnikov and Giorgi Kalatozishvili, the music by Irakli Gejadze. The shoot lasted three years, the crew having to help the shepherds drive the flocks and managing to film only one scene a day. Western critics have noted codes borrowed from the western and echoes of the young French cinema of the time, while the dances and clan relations remain entirely Georgian.
Who it is for
Ninety-three minutes, in Georgian and Russian. It is worth knowing that the seasonal descent to the Caspian was still, in the sixties, the way of life of whole families.
Prizes and reception
Lenin Komsomol Prize in 1967, selected for the Cannes Film Festival in 1964, and back at Cannes in 2019 in the Cannes Classics section with a restored print.