{"id":3600,"date":"2026-07-06T09:08:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T09:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/?p=3600"},"modified":"2026-07-06T09:09:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T09:09:19","slug":"%e1%83%a4%e1%83%9d%e1%83%a1%e1%83%a4%e1%83%9d%e1%83%a0%e1%83%98%e1%83%a1%e1%83%97%e1%83%95%e1%83%90%e1%83%9a%e1%83%94%e1%83%91%e1%83%90-%e1%83%92%e1%83%9d%e1%83%92%e1%83%98%e1%83%90-%e1%83%a6%e1%83%9a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/%e1%83%a4%e1%83%9d%e1%83%a1%e1%83%a4%e1%83%9d%e1%83%a0%e1%83%98%e1%83%a1%e1%83%97%e1%83%95%e1%83%90%e1%83%9a%e1%83%94%e1%83%91%e1%83%90-%e1%83%92%e1%83%9d%e1%83%92%e1%83%98%e1%83%90-%e1%83%a6%e1%83%9a\/","title":{"rendered":"THE STORY OF PHOSPHORIC-EYED GOGIA GHLONTI AND FORMER COMMISSAR SASHA OBOLADZE TOLD AS AN UNFORGETTABLE ANIMATION"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The story of \u201cthe first years of the Red Disaster,\u201d \u201cthe fight between the perfidious commissar Sasha Oboladze and nimble Gogia Ghlonti\u201d is recalled based on Aka Morchiladze\u2019s narration and \u201ctold as an unforgettable story\u201d by director Davit Sikharulidze in the first Georgian 3D animated film, \u201cThe Outlaws\u201d (2008).<\/p>

The film\u2019s designer is Mamuka Didebashvili, who was discovered by Davit Sikharulidze at the Dry Bridge. He didn\u2019t need to \u201ctravel far\u201d to find sound director Madona Tevzadze, who was known by every filmmaker in Georgia and who had worked on many of Davit Sikharulidze\u2019s films. It wouldn\u2019t have been difficult to find Zaza Papuashvili, Revaz Tavartkiladze, Zurab Shevardnadze and Teimuraz Ninidze to voice the characters in the film.<\/p>

It is somewhat difficult to define the genre of films in the category of \u201cThe Outlaws,\u201d especially when it comes to animation (and three-dimensional ones) since it does not obey a \u201ctradition,\u201d existing experience and the solid \u201claws\u201d of the genre.<\/p>

The film is based on historical facts (which actually unfold in Guria, after the Sovietization of Georgia and describes the adventures of historical characters), as interpreted by Aka Morchiladze, but when talking about and showing them, the writer and director resort to a \u201cnon-documentary\u201d and \u201cinappropriate\u201d form and manner and everything is transformed into humor, grotesque and a sharply characteristic layer despite the fact that \"The Outlaws\" deals with very serious issues, the most acute, painful topics of Georgian history, murder, the Sovietization of Georgia, the loss of freedom, heroism, bravery, betrayal and loyalty, emigration, and nostalgia.<\/p>

Davit Sikharulidze recalled that in the 1990s, sports journalist Gia Gorgodze brought him Lasha Tabukashvili\u2019s magazine \u201cXX Century,\u201d in which Aka Morchiladze\u2019s \u201cThe Flamethrower\u201d was published. It is true that he immediately felt the desire to adapt the story into animation, but \u201cThe Outlaws,\u201d like his characters, suffered a difficult fate and work on the film was completed only years later. Davit Sikharulidze perfectly \u201ccaptured\u201d the character, essence and nature of \u201cThe Flamethrower\u201d adapted it to the film and created its own, new artistic reality, atmosphere.<\/p>

\u201cThe plot of the film is taken from Aka Morchiladze\u2019s \u201cThe Flamethrower,\u201d in which a true story is told in its own way. It depicts the events that took place in 1923-1925, in Georgia, the region of Guria, as well as Russia, Paris and Hell. The heroes are also real characters. Gogia Ghlonti was a thief who killed Sasha Oboladze and, together with his wife and friends, fled from Turkey to France\" (Davit Sikharulidze).<\/p>

The animation is based on several historical and fictional facts - Lenin and, on his orders, the execution of the king's family, the arrival of the Red Commissar, Sasha Oboladze in Guria and the rioting of the people there, the terrorization of Guria (as it actually happened) - to receive the order; Gogia Ghlonti \u201cbeing outlawed,\u201d ambush, Oboladze\u2019s murder, etc.<\/p>

Historical figures and facts are skillfully mixed with fictional stories, which, on the one hand, are written by Aka Morchiladze and by Davit Sikharulidze as well, who creates a \"living\" atmosphere, spatial and volumetric dimensions through stylization, convention and artistic generalization characteristic of the \"laws\" of animation, strange personification and a mixture of tragicomic lines.<\/p>

As Aka Morchiladze characterizes, a vagabond (in this case, Gogia Ghlonti) is a gunslinger, outlawed Gurian, a seeker of truth and justice; \u201cA peasant all armed with guns - who could be more bizarre than that? A peasant armed with guns - who might be more embittered on earth, more self-righteous? If a peasant had taken up his gun, kissed his wife and children, and turned his face toward the forest, they would have said - he had outlawed. Indeed, he was outlawed.\u201d<\/p>

Precisely about these self-righteous and brave, embittered and unyielding peasants, with guns in their hands and heads high, narrates the film \u201cThe Outlaws,\u201d for the first time in Georgian animation, both in terms of genre and technical solution.<\/p>

Having gone into the forest, Gogia Ghlonti and his comrades are involuntarily involved in a political struggle against the Bolsheviks and supporters of the Sovietization of Georgia, those who have drowned Guria and the whole of Georgia in blood and set it on fire. However, they are not revolutionaries in the sense that we call revolutionaries. The heroes of \u201cThe Outlaws\u201d are \u201cideological\u201d bandits, offended by the government, scoundrels, whose resentment is based not so much on political but on social dissatisfaction and then on revenge.<\/p>

They fight to protect their dignity and their native land and then they are forced to leave their homeland, successful but defeated in this struggle. They leave and, like many Georgians, take refuge in France (or, historically, in some other foreign country). Then, you will be haunted by sorrow and homesickness your whole life.<\/p>

Despite the fact that the participants in the unfolding events are characters created by means of \"dolls\" - technology (and not human actors), and with a stylized and exaggerated texture, each one is so alive and characteristic, their faces, actions, mannerisms and speech are so expressive that you perceive them as \"real\" people and equate everything with reality.<\/p>

You also seem to be surrounded by the three-dimensional space of the film, you feel its completeness and fullness \u2013 in Georgia, Russia, France, and Hell. It\u2019s as if the Bolsheviks are entering Tbilisi and Guria before your eyes, setting houses on fire before your eyes. It seems the reality, as if you are witnessing the life-and-death struggle between the conquerors and the liberators, you hear the sound of the canon in your ears and celebrate the defeat of evil, just as in life, and just like the heroes of the film, you also feel the piercing gaze of Gogia Ghlonti's luminous, captivating eyes and enter his \"reality\" accompanied by Mikheil Mdinaradze\u2019s music.<\/p>

The literary basis of the film has the following title \u201cThe Flamethrower, or the Tale of 1923.\u201d Recollections of the fight between the former Commissar Sasha Oboladze and the nimble Gogia Ghlonti \u2013 plucked from forgotten or unnoticed books, old newspapers and papers, arranged and told as one unforgettable story by Aka Morchiladze\u201d and ends like this: \u201cGogia Ghlonti was everything at once \u2013 a fighter, a robber and a thief. He was a man \u2013 with phosphoric eyes.\u201d<\/p>

Aka Morchiladze \u201cresearched\u201d the \u201cunidentified biography\u201d and unforgettable story of this phosphoric-eyed, \u201cshort-legged and broad-shouldered\u201d man, and Dato Sikharulidze transformed it into the three dimensions of an animated film.<\/p>

All of Davit Sikharulidze\u2019s films actually have won awards at various festivals around the world, starting with his diploma work, \u201cEphemera\u201d (which won a prize for originality in Moldova). \u201cThe Adventures of Na\u00efve Goose\u201d was awarded in Uzhgorod, as well as in Italy and France, and \u201cBabajana\u201d- in Italy; the film \u201cThe Plague,\u201d shot with Davit Takaishvili, won the \u201cPalm D'or\u201d at the Cannes Film Festival; \u201cIakob Gogebashvili \u2013 Life and Citizenship\u201d was nominated for the State Prize but for some reason, the prize intended for cinema was additionally awarded to the theater. However, three parts of the animated history of Georgia, \u201cLower Paleolithic,\u201d \u201cPaleolithic,\u201d and \u201cUpper Paleolithic\u201d are lost; they were filmed in Bulgaria and created at the Tbilisi Animation Studio and made \u201cbetween intervals.\u201d<\/p>

Along with short and full-length films (made in film studios), Davit Sikharulidze shot: \u201cThe Brave\u201d - a puppet series created on \u201cChannel Nine\u201d (so were \u201cThe Outlaws\u201d, scripted by Aka Morchiladze), \u201cThe Poor Cry All the Time\u201d and at TV company \u201cMze,\u201d a multi-series - \u201cKvachi Kvachantiradze\u201d - the first multi-series animated Georgian film, the first animated screen adaptation of a national classic, of course, based on the novel of the same name by Mikheil Javakhishvili.<\/p>

P.S. David Sikharulidze died a year ago, on April 21, 2025. Rezo Tavartkiladze, Eldar Mdinaradze, Madona Tevzadze from the \u201cThe Outlaws\u201d crew also passed away and this wonderful story came to an end.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Lela Ochiauri<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story of \u201cthe first years of the Red Disaster,\u201d \u201cthe fight between the perfidious commissar Sasha Oboladze and nimble Gogia Ghlonti\u201d is recalled based on Aka Morchiladze\u2019s narration and \u201ctold as an unforgettable story\u201d by director Davit Sikharulidze in the first Georgian 3D animated film, \u201cThe Outlaws\u201d (2008). \nThe film\u2019s designer is Mamuka Didebashvili, who was discovered by Davit Sikharulidze at the Dry Bridge. He didn\u2019t need to \u201ctravel far\u201d to find sound ...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-64","category-lela-ochiauri","category-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3600"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3605,"href":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600\/revisions\/3605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gfr.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}