A long time ago, in Surami fortress, a castle build to protect the Surami
kingdom from its enemies ... however, it seems to be kept in shape since
everytime it is completely built it crumbles & finally collapses under its
own weight: Durmishkhan (Zura Kipshidze) is freed from his duties with the
prince of Surami, & not only that, he is given the prince's best horse, tlo
roam the world on the animal's back. His fiancée
Vardo (Leila Alibegashvili) however is kept behind for whatever the prince has
in store for her ... & even Durmishkhan's horse is taken from him by the
prince's guards since the prince changed his mind on a whim.
Broke & penniless, Durmishkhan still sets out into the world to make a
fortune to return a rich man & free Vardo too, but his task has gotten a
lot more difficult now he's bbroke & penniless. On his way through the
plains he meets rich businessman
Osman-Aga (Dodo Abashidze), who suffered an even greater humiliation from the
prince, as the man not only took his wealth but killed his mother when
humiliating her. Osman-aga has since fled the country & found fame &
fortune elsewhere ... he could however never cure his being homesick, so now,
many years later he comes back to Surami to find his peace. Soon, Osman-aga
sees a younger version of himself in Durmishkhan & invites him to join him
on his travels, & he even cuts him in on his business after a time.
After a time in Osman-aga's employ, Durmishkhan finds new love, with whom he
even has a son ...
Vardo meanwhile, having become half crazy griefing about Durmishkhan's long
absence, goes to a clairvoyant, who shows her Durmishkhan's new life ... &
dies, leaving all her clairvoyant powers to Vardo, who soon becomes a bigger
clairvoyant than she ever was.
Years later, Durmishkhan, his son & company are hired to rebuild the yet
again crumbling Surami Fortress, which once again is collapsing. Knowing about
the futility of this, they decide to adress the local clairvoyant for help -
Vardo. CVrdo sends them all out but Durmishkhan's som - whom she tells in order
to rebuild Surami fortress for all eternity, he has to immure himself ... which
the good boy does, & would you know it, it works.
Despite many outside settings of great Georgian landscapes, almost
everything in this movie looks so stylized it has an otherworldly, even
dreamlike feel to it, with the direction strictly following its own rules
instead of some standardized cinematographic language ... which makes this film
a fascinating watch. On the downside though, way too much story is crammed into
this movie that runs a mere 80 minutes, which makes the film a tad
incomprehensible & distracts from its narrative tension.
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