I've just seen this at the Berlin Film Festival. It tells of a young boy from Georgia on his way to his place of birth in Abkhazia where he hopes to find his father. The area is portrayed as a grim landscape of bombed out buildings where the unfortunate survivors of the recent war eke out a precarious living. The photography of a rarely seen part of the world is beautiful and the film successfully draws the viewer into the plight of the plucky youngster who sets out to search for his lost father despite advice that he will be dead. Along the way he meets a collection of weird and wonderful characters who help and hinder him in his quest. Up until the last 10 minutes I really enjoyed the movie but the abrupt and puzzling conclusion spoiled it for me. **SPOILER ALERT**. On arriving at the town of his birth he is told that his father re-married and moved away many years ago. He wanders out of the town and comes across a group of drunken musicians. They ask him to join in - he does. The screen goes black for a couple of seconds and then we are treated to a vista of wild animals - giraffes and elephants etc - wandering over an African landscape. The movie then ends! I've no idea why African animals should suddenly make an appearance. Can anybody post the reason for this strange ending? I enjoyed the first 80 minutes but a movie should have ending!
Review of Gagma napiri
