In the past decade or so, the country of Georgia has produced many raw and powerful films from women directors examining the country’s modern women as they seek their newfound independence. Director and co-writer Elene Naveriani’s romantic drama “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry” is a striking new entry to this film movement, anchored by a fierce and sensual performance from star Eka Chavleishvili.
Set in a remote village, Chavleishvili plays Etero, an earthy 48-year-old who cherishes her independence above all else. She’s lived alone since the death of her controlling father and brother years earlier (her mother died when she was a child) and owns her own beauty supplies shop. A deeply sensual woman, she finds pleasure in earthly delights like mille-feuille cake and blackberry jam. An anomaly in the village, each day she must endure the gossip and ridicule of her married friends, who cannot understand her unusual lifestyle.
One day while out picking blackberries above a ravine, she spots a blackbird and is so awed by the sight she loses her balance and nearly falls to her death. Later that same day, she is visited by a supplier named Murman (Temiko Chichinadze), who is clearly infatuated with her. At first standoffish, Etero similarly becomes overwhelmed by her lust for the man, and the two make love. This near-death experience and new relationship send Etero on a personal journey in which she reevaluates her current desires, the lingering traumas of her past, and her plans for the future.
At first, Etero is a Mona Lisa – without a smile – keeping her emotions and thoughts to herself, putting up an expressionless face to the world. But as her secret relationship with Murman intensifies, and she experiences the thrills of romantic love for the first time, Etero begins to let loose. Allowing a sly smile as she reads his texts, her eyes glowing as she anticipates their next meeting. She begins to cherish her body, examining its every inch, taking in her own flesh as she’s never felt her own beauty before.
As her confidence grows, so does her defiance against the treatment she receives from her community. In one glorious scene, she orders a slice of cake at a cafe and catches the eye of a man dining alone. The waitress informs her he’d like to know “who the plump woman is.” Looking straight at him, she declares, “If marriage and dicks brought happiness, more women would be happy – but look around, who’s happy?” and then order four slices of cake to take home.
In a way, Etero is the flip side of the coin from Manana (Ia Shughliashvili), the 50-year-old protagonist of Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß’s 2017 Georgian drama “My Happy Family.” Unlike Etero, Manana has spent her entire life caring for others, and as she reaches middle age, she decides she needs time for herself and secretly rents out a flat for herself. She finds the same pleasures of solitude as Etero, including the joy of making and eating a cake solely for herself.
Both films don’t outright condemn traditional family life but rather criticize a structure that pressures girls to grow up and become women who only live for others. To clean and cook and be emotionally available for everyone else first. To bury their own needs and desires deep inside themselves. As they enter the second half of their lives, Etero and Manana seek to live for free of these pressures, and centering themselves in their lives becomes a radical act.
Yet, Naveriani and her co-writer Nikoloz Mdivani throw Etero one final curveball towards the end of “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry,” which shows a deep understanding of the complex tension women often feel internally when presented with an actual choice between living for themselves and living for (or with) others. When faced with a situation that complicates the solo future, she’s planned for herself; the film wisely leaves Etero in a state of flux. The camera holds on Chavleishvili’s face, which is no longer expressionless or a Mona Lisa smile but a cascading series of conflicting emotions.
As an audience, we don’t know what the future holds for Etero any more than she does, but given what we’ve seen over the last two hours, we know whatever happens. Next, she will embrace it with the same passion and persistence of vision with which she’s always led her life. That is true independence. [A]
