My interest in Margo Zubashvili's short film, "The Sun is Sleeping" (2017) was caused by two factors: Margo is the daughter of a famous film and television director, and the main role in this film is played by Nino Kasradze, an actress whose participation is a prerequisite for me to be particularly interested in the film or play, especially since I have already seen her in Margo Zubashvili’s previous work, "Dinosaur," where only in one episode she showed us the character, interests with impressive acting skills.
Before introducing the main character of "The Sun is Sleeping," Margo Zubashvili came up with an effective move - the film begins with a fragment of a concert, where well known Georgian singer, Nani Bregvadze performs the composer Nugzar Vatsadze’s (Lyrics by Moris Potskhishvili) popular song "The Sun is Sleeping" (this is an exclusive filming, the orchestra is conducted by Nikoloz Rachveli). The main character, Anna (Nino Kasradze) and her rival, Lika (Ana Nizharadze), are among the spectators of this concert. The husband of the latter is Anna's beloved man (Erekle Jordania). Lika's pregnancy complicates the already tense situation in this "love triangle." Only childless Anna wants to have a baby, and this fact turns out to be decisive for clarifying the relationship.
Anna participates in every episode of the film. Nino Kasradze, for the most part, has to work on close-ups, with minimal text, stingy word-response, mimicry and movement, we feel the mental state of her film heroine, which changes very often. There are vicissitudes of internal struggle: anxiety, sadness, fear. The song performed by Nani Bregvadze, which is the leitmotif of the film, is perceived as a continuation of these emotions: "I remember, I loved you, for some reason I believed in you..."
Nothing happens by chance in the shot, every detail is important. We don't want to miss anything and we can't take our eyes off Anna. If it weren't for Nino Kasradze's skill, her strong emotional field, the banal story of love could not have been successful for a novice filmmaker.
That Margo Zubashvili was a young creator with an intelligent and interesting vision became clear when watching her first films - "Olympia" and "Dinosaur." As an aspiring filmmaker, she remarkably used the effect of surprise, which attracts more attention to her.
As a proof of this, I will recall these works in fragments:
A beautiful woman swims gracefully and professionally in the pool, and then there is a detailed description of how she takes off her swimsuit and gets ready in the dressing room. We expect that this beautiful lady will soon appear in a wonderful outfit, and suddenly it turns out that she, dressed in the cleaner’s uniform, starts tidying the area around the pool - this is the plot of Margo Zubashvili's short feature student film, "Olympia."
Also, a completely unexpected plot move was used in Margo Zubashvili's next short feature student (diploma) film, "Dinosaur." After her mother's funeral, a young woman returns home with two friends. The women talk about various topics in the kitchen to make their friend feel relief and when the guests leave, an unexpected thing happens - a group of emergency medics comes to examine the permanent patient, or the already "buried person." By the way, Nino Kasradze plays one of the roles in the mentioned film.
After "Dinosaur," Margo Zubashvili and Nino Kasradze’s creative collaboration continued decently in the director's debut professional short film, "The Sun is Sleeping," in which the main character went through painful love, although the author of the film does not put a full stop in the finale, despite the fact that Anna has made a decision and she will definitely be another Anna, with another life.
Nino Kasradze is an extraordinarily interesting, talented, intelligent actress who is very much missing from the Georgian stage and we should see her more often on the screen. Her participation in Margo Zubashvili's short films may turn out to be a requisition for their future joint full-length film.
Nana Tutberidze
