Udzinarta Mze (1992) Reviews

Dr. Gela is obsessed with coming up with a cure for cancer, to the point that his researches have taken over every aspect of his life and he has been fired from the hospital he worked in. Now, he works at home with his cancerous mice in order to produce a vaccine, something his neighbors aren't too thrilled to know about. Thus, they aren't sorry to hear when he passes away in the course of performing an ill-conceived operation on himself. This is director Teymuraz Babluani's second feature and it took seven years to make. It's difficult to be sure if this is a comedy or drama, because very often Georgian humor is so bizarre and surrealistic that the distinction is moot. The film apparently played successfully at various film festivals, and took the Grand Prize at 1992 Kinotavr festival in Sochi and a Silver Bear at Berlin in 1993. Among the many other awards it received was a Nika award (Russian Oscar) as Best Actor for Elgudzha Burduli. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi