“Namme” (2017) turned out to be a real success in modern Georgian cinema. This film received a rare response and love from the audience. It became an unexpected surprise for the Georgian moviegoers. This film became a vivid example of what an interesting script, the right direction of this script and the diligence of the film crew can do.
Zaza Khalvashi, who is the director as well as a screenwriter of the film, offers us a free adaptation of a mythical story. This is a legend about a girl with supernatural powers who has to give up her talent in exchange for love. However, the story in the film is still different. The struggle in it is more about the end of the old and the beginning of the new, and at the epicenter of this struggle is Tsisname (Mariska Diasamidze), a girl with a talent that has become a burden.
Namme is the only one in the family who, like her father, continues the path of her ancestors. The burden that Namme carries on her shoulders is very heavy, and everyone around her sees and understands the difficulty of carrying it. This is especially evident in the dialogue between Namme's father, Ali (Aleko Abashidze) and his brother, Nuri (Roman Bolkvadze). In a conversation with his son, Ali notes that the boys "escaped" and ran away from the responsibility, so the obligation to preserve the tradition falls on Namme, although the young girl also wants to release herself. Over time, the idea of liberation becomes more and more active in her. These thoughts, these ideas creep into the girl's mind like the debris of the construction of a dam on the pure river. The very first frames, in fact, open the door to the story shown in the film - with noise and harsh sounds, but still how the white sediment creeps and mixes with the river and, ultimately, colors and covers the clean water.
Since the film is based on a mythological story, there are many sacred and symbolic-allegorical elements in it. The convention that Zaza Khalvashi chooses is so organic that it makes the scope for generalization virtually limitless. If it weren't for the shots of the city or the dam that are constantly inserted into the narrative, it might have left the accuracy of time and space open.
Such convention is especially organically suited to showing the four branches of the four family members. It is often noted that the gathering of a priest, a mullah and atheist brothers in one family is natural for the environment where the action takes place, that is, for Adjara. But this issue is not so easy to explain.
The harmony that reigns in this family is not characteristic of the ordinary world. It may be desirable, but the existing one is definitely not. Being at home with his brothers, Lado (Roin Surmanidze) notes: “We all have our own truth, each of us, separately, and that is why we are each and separate.”
Religious division is one of the most sensitive topics in the world, and it has been repeatedly noted that religions are the most important pillar of wars, however, in “Namme” the ideal, one might say utopian setting, where everyone has their own truth and everyone respects the truth of others, is shown in the film as one of the most characteristic settings of the overall picture. The family was divided and everyone found their own way, which is why one body disintegrated, but at the same time, harmony was preserved, which seems to stand on Namme.
The minimalist style makes the unusual world natural. This method is especially clearly used for rituals: raising a person to his feet with water, lighting a torch by blowing on the soul, levitation, which is one of the most important symbols, etc.
The film’s minimalism is particularly evident in the shot composition, the sound sequence, the characters’ psycho-portraits and the dramaturgical simplicity. In each of them, “emptiness,” the liberation from excess is the goal in order to present the maximum clarity of what is being said.
At a glance, emptying the compositional structure during the construction of the shot poses a difficult task for the cameraman to say what is being said visually, but when Giorgi Shvelidze is behind the camera, the shot is not only aesthetically charming, but it also becomes alive and, as it were, tangible.
Of particular importance is the sound sequence. Jonas Maksvytis has produced a truly masterful work. Each sound or moment of silence controls the viewer’s mood very subtly and, at the same time, sharply. Zaza Khalvashi and Jonas Maksvytis’s sophisticated tandem has truly created a great example of “silent cinema” not only in Georgian but also in modern world cinema. The voice plays a huge role in shaping the faces of the characters in “Namme.” They absolutely fit into the environment, which is why their small dialogues, sometimes even wordless contact, almost no use of mimicry and plastic, etc. are so natural.
“Namme,” as a work full of metaphors, is also distinguished by its symbolic ending, where we can see three main symbols - the release of a magic fish into the lake, levitation and shots of the dam. The supernatural connection between Namme and the fish is repeatedly emphasized in the film. When Namme finally frees the fish, it seems to free itself; levitation - the myth on which the film is based, is fulfilled in that the girl loses her strength, however, the talent she has in the film does not leave her owner. She is still spiritually elevated; at the end (the shots of the dam), after the airy silence (the girl standing on the foggy lake), the harsh sounds of construction are raised loudly like an exclamation mark. “Here it comes!” - Namme notes. Perhaps she was afraid of this noise penetrating her and that is why she uttered these words, but she overcame her doubts, took the risk and finally embraced the rising fog.
The greatest merit of Zaza Khalvashi’s film is that the entire group had a very difficult task and managed to leave this difficulty unnoticed by the audience. The fulfilled work leaves the impression of being done very easily, and this is only an indicator of professionalism. Tsinsame is a special and distinguished person and therefore she often says the phrase - “I am different.” For the same reasons, the film also makes the same statement - “I am different”.
Gvantsa Nozadze
