Blue Mountains, or an Unbelievable Story

Eldar Shengelaia's 1983 Georgian film follows a young writer trying to get his novel published. He goes to the publishing house, leaves the manuscript and waits for an answer. A year passes. Nobody has read it, everyone directs him to someone else, and nobody says no. All the humour comes from that deferral. The publishing house building is slowly collapsing; cracks widen in the walls, plaster falls from the ceiling, and the staff ignore it. The building and the institution are doing the same thing. That it got past Soviet censorship is notable; the film names no political figure and directs its criticism entirely at bureaucratic behaviour. Shengelaia is among Georgia's best-known comedy directors and this is his most widely known work. Who it's for: those who like Soviet-era satire and Georgian cinema. Who it's not for: viewers waiting for plot; the film deliberately repeats the same scene in different forms.