Shindisi

A decently made war drama with some really strong moments and quite a lot of narrative value. If for no one else, then certainly for Georgians. However, there are also a few dull moments in the film, so as an uninformed viewer, I occasionally struggled to maintain full attention. Although I prefer more intimate films, to which Shindisi can be easily classified, I somehow couldn't empathize with any of the depicted characters. (60%) (2021.04.21)

In the first third of the film, we witness a bloody clash between retreating Georgian units and the Russian army, which unexpectedly closed in on the Georgians in a deadly grip. However, those who prefer intimate filmmaking with a sense of atmosphere will enjoy it more than fans of grand epic war stories. This is where Safe Corridor takes on a heavy dimension. It is a film about the bitterness of defeat, survival, solidarity, and the strength of unobtrusive but stubborn resistance. The climax is an absurd wedding feast without signs of spontaneity and joy but in the presence of the Russian division command, which invited themselves to the wedding and cannot be refused easily. The Georgia-Russia war was one of the endless cycles of conflicts through which the Caucasus people have been trying to define themselves against their powerful neighbor to the north and arrange the conditions within the extraordinarily complex ethnic structure of the Caucasus people for 250 years. Safe Corridor is a small but extraordinary film for Georgia. Overall impression: 80%. (2021.01.27)