One clerk (bureaucrat) suddenly sneezed while he was at an opera performance. The splashes reached an elderly bald man sitting in front of him. The clerk took it to heart much because he recognized the official and apologized to him many times. Then, he made a special visit and asked to forgive. The bored old man (who was not the clerk's immediate superior) finally answered rudely. The clerk suffered greatly from this situation and died "suddenly." This is the synopsis of Anton Chekhov's short and very famous story, “The Death of a Government Clerk.”
The translated version of this story is the basis of Mikheil (Mikho) Gabaidze's short feature film, "Vasomotor Rhinitis" (2024). Mikheil Gabaidze is a successful manager and journalist. He is the author, producer and host of the program at Adjara Public Broadcaster, "Ethnophor;" head of Marketing and Public Relations Department of Batumi Drama Theater and Musical Culture Center; the chairman of the creative organization "Art Portal" and the singer of the folk song ensemble "Peristsvaleba"; founder and director of the Festival of the School Youth Troupes “First Autograph”, to his fields of activity film directing has recently been added.
Gabaidze's work participated in various international festivals, from Brazil to Japan, from the USA to Georgia, from Kazakhstan to Poland. He is a nominee and winner of various awards (for the best director, screenplay, and actor Davit Jakeli – for the best male role). And he continues his festival journey on stage as well (from Batumi BIAFF to Italy).
Anton Chekhov wrote the story in 1883. The action takes place in Russia of that period. However, the story, told with irony and satirical accents, is universal, contemporary and reflects the present day of Georgia. This is the main line of the film, which the author expresses with sharp and expressive means.
Along with transferring the action to Georgia, Mikheil Gabaidze also changed the era and adapted it to modern reality – with the general panorama, situations, characters. They are the inhabitants of today's Georgia, typical and characteristic representatives of different psycho-types, qualities, lifestyle and situational behavior, different social levels. They do not have first names or surnames and only have fictional and conventional, yet well-understood/recognizable status "designations."
In the credits, the actors (professional and non-professional) are presented in an unusual way: Davit Jakeli – promoted to chief specialist last month, Zaal Goguadze – high-ranking civil servant #69, Tatia Tatarashvili – the chief specialist’s wife promoted last month, Irakli Chankvetadze – high-ranking civil servant, the assistant of official #69, Soso Sturua – head of the agitation-propaganda department, Petre Chargeishvili – member of the Economic Mutual Assistance Council, Gvantsa Tsekvashvili – secretary, and a turtle "Bass" – who is protected by the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights.
The irony emerges from this wording and from the "non-cinematic" (even incomprehensible) title, which determines the peculiarity of the directorial methods, the genre of the film and the artistic narrative, and the solution.
The film does not specify the exact time and place of the action. And the line between reality and imagination is hard to define. Such events can develop in any department of Georgia (and not only), in any city, among officials of any rank. The director turns the action spaces into conditional interiors, by avoiding some special characteristic details and turning specific signs into a general function.
According to the medical definition: "Vasomotor rhinitis is characterized by the beginning of the inflammatory process of the nasal mucosa, which is non-infectious in nature. It can happen at any time of the year in the presence of provoking factors. It can cause a number of complications because it disrupts many physiological processes. The reasons for the development of the disease can be: tendency to allergic reactions; hormonal fluctuations; living in a cold and humid climate; bad habits. However, the exact factors provoking the development of vasomotor rhinitis have not yet been finally determined."
In Mikheil Gabaidze's "Vasomotor Rhinitis" the events develop according to social issues, the way of life in society, the personal choice of an individual towards the people around him, and the "established norms of behavior" on the hierarchical level. It shows how a person becomes a slave, a worthless being in front of those in power, officials, who, in turn, is legalized and used by "high-ranking state officials" against "those who were promoted last month or other times" with their own support, for their own control. There are many "physiological" and social fluctuations, "cold and humid climate" that make people sick and doom to death.
In the process of creating characters and situations, the director and actors use humor, sarcasm (albeit hidden), create sharply characteristic situations and images. Parallel events organically included in the main line, independent circumstances (the personal affairs of a high-ranking official and the illegal intentions of his subordinates; the family and entourage of the "promoted;" generalized details of being, the exact choice and features of common characteristics, etc.), sometimes "realistic" and sometimes abstracted, define the existence of a diverse and emphatically stylized atmosphere.
The film is organized in short scenes, the episodes develop quickly and create an active tempo. The dialogues are also fast-paced and concise. Mikheil Gabaidze creates the atmosphere and the general character of the film with sharp, expressive and eloquent methods. Space is emphatically confined everywhere, due to the small scale of the interiors, except in the first episode, which is naturally created by the theater hall where the story begins. At the same time, the seclusion of spaces is opened by the inclusion of mirrors, windows and various works of art used in different episodes and acquires a different meaning.
Mamuka Chkhikvadze's camera moves freely and captures objects from different perspectives, views, sometimes from unusual and "unnatural" angles. He is sometimes an observer and sometimes a direct participant in the processes, which establish the stylistics and "rules of the game" of the directorial decision.
Davit Jackeli, who was "promoted to chief specialist last month," is unable to "play by his own rules" and dies suddenly ("we often encounter this “but suddenly” in stories" – Anton Chekhov). He dies at home when a song "Come Back to Sorrento" is played on television, a recording from the concert when it all began. The fact of death can only be seen in the mirror, at the same time René Magritte’s reproduction with the image of a faceless man falls down from the wall with the long and thunderous applause at the background.
Mikheil Gabaidze turned the double absence of face and place of a faceless person, the problem of impossibility of being anywhere, in any desired place or returning, into a conditional, free and open finale and gave it an eloquent, multi-value notion.
Lela Ochiauri
