What a delightful movie. Beautifully shot, well paced, great character development. Right from the opening shot with Manana stepping into the frame to the last scene where Manana looks at Soso and the credits start rolling, you don't lose focus for a second. In less than 2 hours, we get a glimpse of Manana's thought process, the journeys of her two kids and their respective relationships, her dynamic w/ her brother and husband. Her journey from looking at the house to finally moving in, the cleaning process and then how she spends her time reading, cooking, playing the guitar, checking her notebook etc. Her physical transformation from dark circles and exhaustion to people commenting how beautiful she looks, the symbolism for instance her avoiding wine on her birthday to her drinking wine at home, the rustling of the trees, the comfort Manana has when anyone wants to visit her home, the scene at her reunion party when she breakdown followed by her song, every scene is absolutely stunning. Ia Shugliashvili is mindblowing as Manana. For some reason, she resembles Neena Gupta a lot so if they make an Indian remake of this, Neena will be the obvious choice.
Top 5 scenes for me: 1. Manana checking her students' notebooks at home and the smile spreading across her face 2. When Manana's student tells her how one should say no and then not look back instead of hesitating, and once you say no, simply to walk out 3. When Manana's relatives call her home at Sunday to convince her but she says "I will not give an explanation to anyone" and her two kids stand up for her 4. The contrast between her earlier vegetable shopping experience vs when she has shifted to the new home, and her avoiding wine earlier vs later when she turns the volume up and drinks wine 5. The last scene where she asks her husband who he is and then the expressions between them, followed by the credits - so beautiful and such a perfect end
Manana is a kind human, a doting mother, a loyal wife, a caring sister and daughter but most of all a strong, brave woman with high integrity and absolutely tenacious. She is inspiring and stands for what she believes in and doesn't need anyone to save her. She is a "pure heroine" :)
In a nutshell, absolute must watch :)
Top 5 scenes for me: 1. Manana checking her students' notebooks at home and the smile spreading across her face 2. When Manana's student tells her how one should say no and then not look back instead of hesitating, and once you say no, simply to walk out 3. When Manana's relatives call her home at Sunday to convince her but she says "I will not give an explanation to anyone" and her two kids stand up for her 4. The contrast between her earlier vegetable shopping experience vs when she has shifted to the new home, and her avoiding wine earlier vs later when she turns the volume up and drinks wine 5. The last scene where she asks her husband who he is and then the expressions between them, followed by the credits - so beautiful and such a perfect end
Manana is a kind human, a doting mother, a loyal wife, a caring sister and daughter but most of all a strong, brave woman with high integrity and absolutely tenacious. She is inspiring and stands for what she believes in and doesn't need anyone to save her. She is a "pure heroine" :)
In a nutshell, absolute must watch :)