Photo: Esther Gorintin as Eka in Julie Bertuccelli's Since Otar Left
When Otar left Georgia (as in Russia) behind, he also bid farewell to a sister, Marina (Nino Khomassouridze), and an elderly mother, Eka (Esther Gorintin), who happens to long for the days of Stalin (yes, she's that old). Julie Bertuccelli's Since Otar Left observes the many tight spots Marina and her daughter Ada (Dinara Droukarova) must maneuver when Otar dies and they decide to keep his death a secret from his not-so-fragile mother. Everyone is drawn into Marina and Ada's web of lies, which is bound to unravel sooner or later. Things get extra prickly when Eka goes into cardiac shock and, after leaving the hospital, takes on the world (and Paris) by storm. Since Otar Left is meant to play out like a fable, but Bertuccelli's direction isn't nimble enough to carry it off. Because the logistics of the mother-daughter deceit usually trumps everything else (namely the blistering poverty of the characters' lives), the film largely plays out like a Georgian version of Three's Company.
When Otar left Georgia (as in Russia) behind, he also bid farewell to a sister, Marina (Nino Khomassouridze), and an elderly mother, Eka (Esther Gorintin), who happens to long for the days of Stalin (yes, she's that old). Julie Bertuccelli's Since Otar Left observes the many tight spots Marina and her daughter Ada (Dinara Droukarova) must maneuver when Otar dies and they decide to keep his death a secret from his not-so-fragile mother. Everyone is drawn into Marina and Ada's web of lies, which is bound to unravel sooner or later. Things get extra prickly when Eka goes into cardiac shock and, after leaving the hospital, takes on the world (and Paris) by storm. Since Otar Left is meant to play out like a fable, but Bertuccelli's direction isn't nimble enough to carry it off. Because the logistics of the mother-daughter deceit usually trumps everything else (namely the blistering poverty of the characters' lives), the film largely plays out like a Georgian version of Three's Company.
