Although Julie Bertuccelli's debut centres on a big lie, there's much that rings true about its study of three female generations living in each other's pockets in post-Soviet Georgia.
When news of the eponymous Otar's death in Paris reaches sister Marina (Nino Khomassouridze) and niece Ada (Dinara Droukarova), the two women think it best to keep the shock from the man's doting mother Eka (Esther Gorintin). The deception's carried off for a while, but then the old girl starts making travel plans...
Pivoting on the same lying-for-love theme as Good Bye, Lenin!, this is a lower-key but equally engaging film. It's also as acute as Lenin! when grappling with the social nitty-gritty of life after Communism. That said, it's the neatly balanced, adroitly acted picture of family strife and support that satisfies the most. The going's slow but worth it, Bertuccelli building to a quiet, devastating note that finally turns to one of tender optimism.
