Tangerines

In Georgia in 1992, a harvest of tangerines becomes an agile metaphor for this alluring drama by director Zaza Urushadze. Despite a civil war that drives ethnic Estonians out of their homes, Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak) and his neighbour Margus (Elmo Nuganen) remain in their idyllic mountain village, readying the bumper fruit crop for market. The quiet is short-lived as two badly injured soldiers, one Georgian (Mikhail Meskhi) and one Chechen (Giorgi Nakhashidze), wage war on each other in Ivo's peaceful rustic home. Nominated for the best foreign film Oscar in 2013, Tangerines is a filmic short story, concise, direct and simple, that credibly reveals the tragedy of war. Beautifully acted and directed, this film will spring into your mind every time you eat a tangerine. It is that profound.