Films A-Z
Speechless
Dadimebulebi
Salome Jashi / Georgia / 2009 / 11 min.
Is it possible to tell from a mere shot of a human face how much a person has suffered? In this film the talented Georgian director Salome Jashi proves that it is. A slow sequence of long shots alternate with static pictures of citizens of Georgia whose lives have been blighted by war. The faces of a woman working at a military hospital, a Georgian soldier, policemen, young girls and mothers bearing new-born babies, clearly illustrate the extent to which the Russian-Georgian conflict has afflicted the citizens of Georgia. Meanwhile, the face of one old man whose wife has been killed and home destroyed by Russian bombs is a picture of desperation. The film's minimalist approach - with almost no music and with authentic sounds the only background to interviews - represents something far removed from a shallow attack on the viewer's emotions. Rather it offers quiet contemplation of the cruelties of war, which always causes the greatest pain to those who are the most innocent.