September 7, 2024 turned into another important day in the history of Georgian cinema. Dea Kulumbegashvili's "April" (2024) was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival. At the same time, it was also nominated for the main prize "Golden Lion."
This young director was introduced to the audience back in 2020 with her first feature film, "The Beginning." Four years later, with "April" did she continue the directorial path that was already visible in her manner from her debut.
"April" tells the story of a young, lonely doctor Nina, who illegally performs abortions in her village. In parallel, the story unfolds about the investigation of a dead child, who was delivered by Nina and died after birth. Throughout the film, Nina's dramatic and gloomy life is visible, we learn about her past with her colleague David, about her sister's everyday existence, and so on.
As in her previous film, the director is again interested in the character of a lonely woman who goes against not only the law but also society and herself in many cases. Her rebellion is caused by the inferiority complex that slowly eats her from the inside. All this is conveyed even more intensely in this film. There is also an episode where Nina's character "hitchhikes" with one of the men and, in the process of talking about her sister, offers oral sex, to which the man agrees. It is here that we can see Nina's psychotype, how she is in conflict with herself. The relationship that begins in the dark in the salon of a car ends badly for the character, because she cannot arouse the man, at which point we can see her desperate face. As a last hope, she bares her breasts, which has no effect on the man. At this point, the woman will demand the same thing from him, for which she will receive a slap in the face. In the end, Nina appears absolutely devastated, insulted and beaten, for whom all this was an assault dedicated to self-destruction.
Nina’s character, which Ia Sukhitashvili created brilliantly, is for Kulubegashvili a woman who cannot ask for help and support. She has no friends, although she needs everything not only for a better life but also for survival in the village where she has been branded a “child killer.” Her friends are her own patients, for whom she really fights and wants only good. She has to do everything at the cost of violating the law and morality, and this is precisely the reason for her double. She completely fails to understand whether she is really a monster turned into a corpse, as the director portrays us from the very first shot, or a woman fighting for a better life for women.
Not many people appear around Nina. One such exception is David. The doctor, who, due to his personal relationship with her, cannot leave her. In the story, he becomes a kind of recession for Nina, where she is frank only with him. There is only one hugging scene, a moment when she is accepted as a person and a woman, and all this happens with David. Only he perceives Nina as others should see her, but this is not the case.
There is an interesting finale at the end. The head doctor finds out about Nina's dirty work. The police are also interested in this story, due to a murder that occurred in the village. In a few minutes, we can see how the head doctor of the hospital explains to the deceased baby’s parents that its death is not the nurses’ fault. The character seems to remain the same monster, albeit in a much lighter setting than when the mystery was partially revealed.
The cinematography of this film is a distinctive part. Cameraman Arsen Khachaturian is a professional and, one might say, does everything with a high-level cinematic vision, although there are a lot of “references” in the film, which we can see from the very first shot. A kind of “reprise” comes from Carlos Reygadas’ film “Light After Dark” (2012), which has become a true classic of auteur cinema. For example, in the very first frame of the Mexican director’s work, we can see a red glowing devil, who walks heavily and silently to the main character’s house. Kulumbegashvili turned this character into Nina’s spiritual side and also offered us a naked female monster on a black background who doesn’t know where to go. In addition, Reygadas’ influence is often noticeable in this director's work, which I consider a “botched job" in cinema, which has become a kind of "fashion" in modern times and directors often use to win the hearts of the audience.
The influence of the producer of her previous film (Carlos Reygadas was the producer of Kulumbegashvili's “Beginning") was not limited to "references" and Kulumbegashvili also imitated him in the pace of the film. In this regard, she did a truly excellent job because the film did not become a boring spectacle. Every second is important in creating the aura and aesthetics of the film. The pace, at a glance, may seem sluggish and slow to the viewer, but this is precisely what makes this film a work in which the viewer feels and experiences the character's life fatigue.
The director, like in her previous work, has offered us Ia Sukhitashvili and Kakha Kintsurashvili’s duet here too. Both actors have repeatedly proven to the audience that their skills are at a high level, although Kulumbegashvili has shown their images to the world of cinema from a completely different perspective. They have managed to create characters who live in a meaningless world, and they themselves cannot find an escape. Sukhitashvili’s work in creating this character is truly commendable. Nina’s sometimes speechless face often conveys more emotions than any actor would have conveyed to us with a heavy emotional image. Both actors are amazing at playing with their eyes, which Dea Kulumbegashvili emphasizes throughout the film.
After watching “April,” an observant film lover or film professional would have noticed that its director created a very interesting fiction in the world of cinema. He actually combined the works of two classics, Carlos Reygadas’ “Light After Dark” and Mike Lee’s “Vera Drake” (2004), into Georgian reality. He used the aesthetics from the Mexican director, and the story from the British, which leaves an amazing feeling in the viewer who knows both works well and knows their creators. Dea Kulumbegashvili has truly become an interesting director for Georgian cinema. Despite the influence of classical cinema, she still retains her own signature, which is truly unique.
“April” tells the story of a “martyred” woman who sacrifices herself for the society where she is left alone and defenseless despite her work. Nina's character is the embodiment of a person who would rather do the work that someone else would do even worse than her. "If I don't, someone else will do it" - her response shows her own sadness, suffer and heroism at the same time, for the work for which no one will reward her.
Saba Makharashvili
