DEDE
2017, Mariam Khatchvani, Drama
2017, Mariam Khatchvani, Drama
LENGTH: 97 min
COUNTRY: Georgia
YEAR: 2017
GENRE: Drama
LANGUAGE: Georgian, Georgian-Svanish w/English subtitles
FORMATS: DCP, Blu-ray & DVD
DIRECTOR: Mariam Khatchvani
CAST: George Babluani, Natia Vibliani, Girshel Chelidze, Nukri Khatchvani, Mose Khatchvani
CREW: SCREENWRITER: Mariam Khatchvani, Vladimer Katcharava; CINEMATAGRAPHER: Konstantin Esadze; EDITOR: Levan Kukhashvili; MUSIC: Tako Zhordania, Mate Chamgeliani; PRODUCER: Vladimer Katcharava
Based on true events that took place at the outset of the Georgian Civil War, Dede takes place in the high mountainous community of Svaneti, where there live a people far removed from the modern world. A purely patriarchal society that revolves around forced marriages, pride and tradition dictate the code of daily life. Dina is a young woman promised by her draconian grandfather to David, one of the soldiers returning from the war. Once a marriage arrangement is brokered by two families, failure to follow through on the commitment is unthinkable. Dina finds herself unable to love David, instead falling for his handsome friend Gegi who saved David’s life during the war. Humiliated after his fiancée reveals her true feelings, David attempts to kill Gegi but fails, and takes his own life rather than lose face. Dina is rattled, but relieved at the same time and marries Gegi. The pair flee the village and attempt to make a new life in a nearby community, but the ill sentiment harbored by David’s family is not any quicker to subside than the harsh environmental conditions endured by the people of Svaneti.
The Hollywood Reporter
By Stephen Dalton
“Feminism meets fatalism in this starkly beautiful Georgian melodrama.”
Variety
By Jessica Kiang
“An authentic, anthropologically fascinating if dramatically unsteady debut set in an isolated community in rural, mountainous Georgia”
Cineuropa
By Vladan Petkovic
“…attractive and intriguing.”
Chicago Reader
By Ben Sachs
“Director Mariam Khatchvani, who demonstrates a sure hand with actors and a taste for natural beauty.”
Film Threat
By Lorry Kikta
“Dede is one of the most beautiful portrayals of spiritual tradition, heartache, grief, and sacrifice I have ever witnessed.”
Battle Royale With Cheese
By Alex Secker
“Dede is a hard film to watch, and that’s not an accident. It isn’t that it’s violent or that it’s gruesome or that it’ll have you turning away from the screen at the horrors unfolding, it’s that it’s truth.”
Trust Movies
By Alex Secker
“Primitive, filmed in a beautiful location, and said to be based on a real-life situation taking place in 1988, as the Georgian Civil War began, DEDE, the 2017 film directed and co-written by Mariam Khatchvani, takes a number of unexpected turns, even as it purloins themes from Romeo & Juliet, the Sabine Women, and maybe every backwoods-set, honor-above-all-else, Eastern European/Eurasian movie ever made…First, the interesting performers: George Babluani, shown above, as our heroine’s first great love, a sexy, slow-burn guy who’s great at staring; Natia Vibliani as Dina (below, with child), the put-upon girl at the center of all the male wrangling; and literally all the supporting performers who seem equally adept and real….Secondly, the visuals here, thanks to the gorgeous locations, can often be breathtaking: There’s one scene in which villagers carry lanterns/torches in the night on one side of the screen, even as the salmon-colored sunset hits the peaks of the mountains on the other.”
Mama Likes This
By Valerie Mitchell
“This is a great movie to watch with someone else, so that you can discuss it together afterwards.”
Reviews by Amos Lassen
By Amos Lassen
“The roughness and beauty of the setting and the rawness of the aesthetics and the directing approach make “Dede” a fascinating film— attractive and intriguing. The obsolete customs that still persist today, where everything is about family honor and where a woman has no say in anything, including her own children’s fate, can make us very angry, but Khatchvani’s perspective ensures that the audience sees both the best and the worst.”
Shepherd Express
By Dave Luhrssen
“It’s a familiar scenario—two best friends in love with the same woman and she’s forced into marriage with the one she doesn’t love. The setting is unusual, a remote village in the Georgian Republic where family honor trumps love. The 2018 film by Mariam Khathvani is steeped in the age-old rituals of an unpoliced communitarian society where women in are kept in second place and violent emotion are hard to keep in check. .”
St. Bernards News (LA)
By Ed Held
“”Time to find the tissue box as you enter a world of “tradition, heartache, grief and sacrifice”.”
Cherry Hill Courier Post
By Amy Longsdorf
“The movie works as both a character study of a woman with very few options and a study of a region far removed from the modern world. Gorgeous cinematography and understated performances help turn “Dede” into a must-see.”
The LA Beat
By Paul Gaita
“a sobering look at stifling patriarchal traditions and the struggle by women to break free of them; it’s a decidedly unhappy picture all around…but as a look at a largely unknown region and its traditions – and a starkly beautiful location – “Dede” holds interest.”
2009 Lichanishi and Kvirikoba
2007 Beyond the Window
2006 Verdzoba
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