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The Wishing Tree
ნატვრის ხე
1976 107 min Soviet Union 0+
★7.7
Drama
Director: Tengiz Abuladze
Trailers
Description
Marita arrives at a small village in Georgia to live with her aunt. She meets a poor young lad, Gedia, and falls in love with him. But her relatives are determined to marry the girl off to a local rich man…
Starring
Lika Kavzharadze
Actor
Soso Jachvliani
Actor
Zaza Kolelishvili
Actor
Awards
1 win & 1 nomination
Key opinion
Tengiz Abuladze’s The Tree of Desire is a poetic, visual masterpiece that blends folklore with a gritty critique of societal stagnation and rigid tradition. Through a complex mosaic of characters and recurring symbols, the film captures the tragic tension between the purity of young love and the suffocating hypocrisy of village life.
| Cinematography | The film utilizes a rich, metaphorical visual language where every frame and color serves as a symbolic reflection of deeper truths. | |
| Acting | Sophie Chiaureli’s performance as Fufa is profoundly moving, creating a tragic figure that anchors the film’s exploration of desperate, unrequited love. | |
| Screenplay | The narrative eschews traditional plot structures in favor of a Chekhovian, mosaic flow that requires patience to unpack its dense layers of meaning. | |
| Direction | The juxtaposition of poetic, fairy-tale aesthetics with grotesque, sharp-witted irony effectively creates a multifaceted tone that shifts between beauty and tragedy. | |
| Pacing | Viewers are split on the structural progression, as some find the contemplative pace meditative and wise, while others note it demands an intense, multi-day cognitive effort to fully grasp. |