THE BLUE MOUNTAINS is a Glasnost satire made by a handful of citizens of one of the Sovietic nationalities, the Georgians, in a classic Russian genre—the bureaucracy—exploitation. Either as an Empire or as an Union of Soviet Republics, the Russian state faced the evils of bureaucracy; and in this comedy Soso (the writer, author of THE BLUE MOUNTAINS, OR TIAN—SHAN) and Zazaevici (the manager of the publishing house) and Bella and the Groenland landscape and Tina and the dizzy Tamara are carried by a whirl of mindless agitation and formalities.
An oldster is afraid of being crushed by a huge painting representing a Greenland landscape; Bella has a jealous husband; the building of this publishing house crumbles—in lively, even merry tones of apocalyptic and _absurdist satire. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS is not bitter or resentful, but jovial, hopeless and at times even cheerful.
Made in '84, on the eve of the Perestroika, THE BLUE MOUNTAINS constitutes a foremost example of a Russian satirical genre—the bureaucracy—exploitation, the bureaucratic machine depicted in either apocalyptic or _absurdist tones. Performances—wise, notable are the silhouettes of old blasé clerks, like the one who fears the Greenland landscape, or the former mining engineer.
The Russians enjoy depicting themselves as zany and loco; and since their huge state needed, as Empire or as Union of Soviets, proportionate bureaucratic engines, the clash of the national soul with the exigencies of a vast state structure led to funny and grim results. The characters of THE BLUE MOUNTAINS are not Russians, but Georgians; the movie is, though, made as a Russian comedy.
An oldster is afraid of being crushed by a huge painting representing a Greenland landscape; Bella has a jealous husband; the building of this publishing house crumbles—in lively, even merry tones of apocalyptic and _absurdist satire. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS is not bitter or resentful, but jovial, hopeless and at times even cheerful.
Made in '84, on the eve of the Perestroika, THE BLUE MOUNTAINS constitutes a foremost example of a Russian satirical genre—the bureaucracy—exploitation, the bureaucratic machine depicted in either apocalyptic or _absurdist tones. Performances—wise, notable are the silhouettes of old blasé clerks, like the one who fears the Greenland landscape, or the former mining engineer.
The Russians enjoy depicting themselves as zany and loco; and since their huge state needed, as Empire or as Union of Soviets, proportionate bureaucratic engines, the clash of the national soul with the exigencies of a vast state structure led to funny and grim results. The characters of THE BLUE MOUNTAINS are not Russians, but Georgians; the movie is, though, made as a Russian comedy.