Modern Georgian cinema has been particularly political in recent years. All this serves the aim of rethinking and seeing Georgian-Russian relations from a new perspective over the past 30 years. Rusudan Glurjidze began talking about the Abkhazian war with her very first film, “House of Others” (2016) and with her latest film, “The Antique” (2024), she touched on the most recent political relations between Russia and Georgia.
The director based the film on a true story - the mass deportation of Georgians from Russia in 2006, on President Vladimir Putin’s order. The film has three narrative lines: a Georgian boy Lado, who is a driver in a Georgian antique shop; Medea, who is the same shop manager and Lado’s lover; and Vadim Vadimovich, an old Russian man who sold Medea his house on the condition that he himself would stay there to live.
The development of all three lines is built on the myth of the “Argonauts” and its allusions are numerous in the film. For Oleg Negin, the screenwriter it seems that the Colchian myth turned out to be a source of inspiration for Georgian-Russian relations. An example of this is the character Medea, who, is the main allusion to the ancient myth, judging by her name. She lives in an old Russian man’s house, which is perceived as a kind of “Golden Fleece” in the film. The director of the antique shop, whose voice is only heard, represents a kind of mythological creature, a siren, who talks to Medea and gives advice.
Besides human relationships in the narrative line of “The Antique,” the relationship between Medea and Vadim is the most important. They actually represent their country in the film, so we can understand many of the director’s desires, requests and dreams through their mouths, which, on the one hand, are incomprehensible, and on the other hand, are contradictory. All this can be considered a desire for informal “capitulation,” as there are metaphors that allow us to think about this. For example, Medea and Vadim have an unusual relationship in the film: the old man sold the house to the young girl with the right to live, to which the Georgian agreed. Although they only talk about household matters and rarely talk about personal ones, a pleasant, father-daughter relationship develops between them, which ends with a beautiful date, where they open their hearts to each other. All this is very difficult for the viewer to comprehend: when a Georgian woman adapts and befriends an “occupant” Russian old man who sold her his house, but still lives inside, this can be seen as a kind of message that our political vision should be “adaptable” and “friendly” towards the occupying country. Everything is still perceptible, despite the fact that the leitmotif of the plot is the persecution of Georgians, Putin’s radio recording (during which Medea’s character curses him bitterly) and Vadim’s criticism of the government itself. Despite this fact, the film still has the feeling that Russia simply made a mistake towards us and had no other intentions.
In addition to this subversive plot of “The Antique,” Salome Demuria’s acting “class” is worth mentioning - how ordinary and unremarkable a character can be created by an actress, considering what happens to Medea. Everything indicates that we should sympathize with the main character, a single Georgian woman who works in a foreign land for a better life, although there is not even a moment of feeling that the audience can establish any emotional connection with her since the character created by the actress is so uncharismatic that it is doubtful that the public will have any empathy for her.
The only bright spot in this film is really the director of photography, Gorka Gómez Andreu. His vision of Moscow and Russia, in general, is probably something most adequate. It is he who gives the work the most important tone because it is he who creates that negative mood towards the Russian regime.
It is clear in Rusudan Glurjidze's film that what was to be said was not fully expressed. It seems that the director went over the terrible "hair bridge" which, unfortunately, was interrupted, and therefore created the "Kiss of Judas" - type work, which is overloaded with superficial patriotism. This is best seen in the finale of the film, where Vadim begins to develop dementia. He ends up in a police station, where he can see how the deported Georgians are treated. His dissatisfaction and anger are so weak and meaningless that this is reflected in his words - he forgets the past and is fragile towards everything which is imbued with human empathy. After this, the film shows Medea in the sunny city, finding peace in Moscow streets and in the house where her "occupant" lived.
It is difficult to fully understand why the director had the desire to shoot a completely “prepared” cinematic story - a film about Georgians living in fictional modern-day Moscow. Moreover, in such a style as if it were all a dream. However, everyone knows, everyone remembers everything. Some may even be victims of this terrible persecution and deportation. This story was not some dream or invented fairy tale, but a cruel reality for Georgian immigrants of that period who worked for their families in Russia.
The film really leaves the feeling that it is all one big fairy tale, where good did not defeat evil but learned to coexist with it. This can be considered the main message of the film. The character of Medea remains in sunny Moscow and learns how to live peacefully where she is hostile. Such an approach can be considered a carrier of the conformist ideas that are happening in our reality today. The director himself truly believes that he has created a film that depicts the tyranny and evil of Russia. This is explained by the fact that a Hague Court decision, which speaks of Russia's crimes, is displayed in the background, at the end, during the credits. It seems that this changed the meaning of the film, although the director should have emphasized the main point not in the credits, but in the course of the plot and should not have been distracted for a single moment.
It is difficult to understand what idea was in mind while creating "The Antique," what they wanted to say or what emotion they wanted to evoke in the audience but in the end we saw a film that carried conformist ideas, where the enemy is the lover, and the lover is the enemy.
Saba Makharashvili
