Hayleigh Joseph
This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.
adonis98-743-186503
War in Georgia, Apkhazeti region in 1990. An Estonian man Ivo has stayed behind to harvest his crops of tangerines. In a bloody conflict at his door, a wounded man is left behind, and Ivo is forced to take him in. Mandariinid is another god awful and just slow paced drama that doesn't belong on this list at all. The acting was dumb, the characters were very boring and just the entire scenario was very disappointing to see. Overall a movie that will not really affect you that much but you won't even be remember the next hour or the next 15-20 minutes. (0/10)
undeaddt
I gave this movie a 10/10 with out hesitating for a second. Why ? Because it is one of the most touching films I've watched in my life, if not maybe the most touching one. Only 5 actors and a small village where only several scenes where rotated were needed for this movie to be perfect. It tells a very sensitive story and brings a very moral message.
Mehdi Zouaoui
It was one of the best films I've ever watched due it's hologram of simplicity and depth at the same time. The soundtrack that was used during the film was really deep with its pauses, reflecting the unknowness that cover the human nature and at the same time tapping into the original human good will but not original sin. Watching it reminds how the world doesn't matter and most of our values that we have created are only to protect the "us" from the "them" by engaging in a mercantilist kinds of way. What is religion? who is religious? what is war? does it matter to live? and so on are only parts of the questions that were put forward in the movie. The theme of death and religion is approached with eyes of a simple farmer living in a stranded village where the war for Ivo, to put it in his words, " nobody's war"
Jackson Booth-Millard
I found out about this Estonian-Georgian film possibly mentioned briefly on a film review programme, but mainly because it was one of the foreign films getting attention during awards season, I hoped it would be worthy. Basically set in the early 1990s, in a rural village in Abkhazia, most Estonians have returned to their homeland upon the outbreak of war between the Georgian government and the Russian backed Abkhaz separatists, leaving settlements virtually empty. One of the few Estonians who has remained is elderly Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak), he is building crates for his Estonian friend and neighbour Margus (Elmo Nüganen), who is harvesting his lucrative crop of unpicked tangerines before he will return to his family back in Estonia. The money will be good, but Margus admits he stayed so the fruit will not go to waste, he has made an arrangement with the military to assist in harvesting the fruit at a given date. One day outside Margus' property, opposing forces have a small battle, three soldiers die in the conflict, two remain and are seriously wounded, Georgian soldier Nika (Misha Meskhi) and Chechen mercenary Ahmed (Giorgi Nakashidze), Margus and his local physician friend Juhan (Raivo Trass), the two men still alive are nursed back to health. The two men regain consciousness, they realise they are from opposite sides, but they agree not to have conflict while in the house, Ivo has to make sure they will keep to their word, but also hide any evidence of the battle that took place, with the dead bodies being buried, and evidence of the two surviving soldiers. If the Georgian soldier or Chechen mercenary are discovered by either side of the fight, all of their lives will be jeopardised, but a firefight occurs, Margus is killed, while Nika is shot dead by a wounded Russian, Igo and Ahmed bury their bodies, Ivo reveals that his son is buried near Nika's grave, this is the reason he has not left, Ahmed leaves as he misses his family. I will be honest and say that I lost track a little bit with what was going on, probably because of having to concentrate on the subtitles as well, but I do know that the leading elderly actor gives a good performance, there are some beautiful colours, especially from the fruit picking moments, what I did follow was interesting, and the obvious loud sequences definitely got my attention, overall it is a worthwhile drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Good!
