SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Geoffrey DeLeons I was looking forward to watching this movie. I tried to watch a few minutes of it, and then threw it out. Why? Because I could not read the sub-titles. They are too small and often, are on a white background.I find it incredible that any movie producer could be that stupid as to include sub-titles that are indiscernible. I would have had to have gotten maybe 2-3 feet from the television set to read these subtitles, and even then, I would not be able to see the ones that are on a white object in the movie.Is this a trend in foreign films? To include sub-titles that are 1/2" tall and we are supposed to see them from 20-30 feet away? I would really like Mr. Urushadze's comments on this. I find such incompetence very unsettling.

Jackson Booth-Millard I found out about this Estonian-Georgian film possibly mentioned briefly on a film review programme, but mainly because it was one of the foreign films getting attention during awards season, I hoped it would be worthy. Basically set in the early 1990s, in a rural village in Abkhazia, most Estonians have returned to their homeland upon the outbreak of war between the Georgian government and the Russian backed Abkhaz separatists, leaving settlements virtually empty. One of the few Estonians who has remained is elderly Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak), he is building crates for his Estonian friend and neighbour Margus (Elmo Nüganen), who is harvesting his lucrative crop of unpicked tangerines before he will return to his family back in Estonia. The money will be good, but Margus admits he stayed so the fruit will not go to waste, he has made an arrangement with the military to assist in harvesting the fruit at a given date. One day outside Margus' property, opposing forces have a small battle, three soldiers die in the conflict, two remain and are seriously wounded, Georgian soldier Nika (Misha Meskhi) and Chechen mercenary Ahmed (Giorgi Nakashidze), Margus and his local physician friend Juhan (Raivo Trass), the two men still alive are nursed back to health. The two men regain consciousness, they realise they are from opposite sides, but they agree not to have conflict while in the house, Ivo has to make sure they will keep to their word, but also hide any evidence of the battle that took place, with the dead bodies being buried, and evidence of the two surviving soldiers. If the Georgian soldier or Chechen mercenary are discovered by either side of the fight, all of their lives will be jeopardised, but a firefight occurs, Margus is killed, while Nika is shot dead by a wounded Russian, Igo and Ahmed bury their bodies, Ivo reveals that his son is buried near Nika's grave, this is the reason he has not left, Ahmed leaves as he misses his family. I will be honest and say that I lost track a little bit with what was going on, probably because of having to concentrate on the subtitles as well, but I do know that the leading elderly actor gives a good performance, there are some beautiful colours, especially from the fruit picking moments, what I did follow was interesting, and the obvious loud sequences definitely got my attention, overall it is a worthwhile drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Good!

Semisonic War certainly never changes. And no matter what reasons make people leave their regular lives and go kill each other, it all boils down to the blind rage and bloodthirstiness. There are no noble causes, no right and wrong, just "us" and "them" and killing them before they kill us.The ugliness of all this mess is best noticed when put against the pure beauty of the land the people are fighting for. Against the nature that knows no war and against people who only wanna live in harmony with it and reap what the land yielded for them. And that's the essence of the story behind Tangerines: a dying Estonian settlement in the Caucasus region, with only a few people left who try to gather the tangerines while there is still time, while the war breaks all around them about which country this land should belong to.The beauty of Tangerines is in its simplicity. It doesn't try to judge, to separate right from wrong, to label people for what made them go to that war - money or duty. It cares for none of it. The only thing that matters is that we are all human, and killing each other is a pointless and senseless thing per se. That the person you are so desperately trying to kill today might become your only friend tomorrow. Because that's what war does: it makes everybody blind, and the only way to start seeing again is to reject it altogether.The naivety of that pacifist message may be endearing, but it also demands for an oversimplification. Preaching peace is only possible if you ignore all the complexities that led to the war in the first place. In fact, Tangerines tries a bit too hard to avoid any complexities at all, nipping them in the bud. Why are the Abkhazians fighting for their independence? Why are the Georgians so eager to keep them from getting it? Why are the Russians and their blood money involved? Why is Ivo so reluctant to leave his village and move to Estonia to his family? What will he do when the rest of the settlers leave? The answers to these questions are either blurred or not even hinted at, as if the whole world has suddenly shrunk to these two Estonian guys, their unexpected guests and a tangerine garden.And while that reclusiveness - both physical and spiritual - may be a powerful personal stance, it deprives Tangerines of a certain cinematographic depth. Of course, there may be no obvious solutions to all the big problems of our world, especially when it comes to war, but sometimes it's simply not enough to put a flower into a barrel of a rifle to fix it all. Even if it's a tangerine blossom.

Rogermex No one should miss this film. I agree with other reviewers here, it's an easy 10. Sets out to accomplish a valuable goal, and does so very convincingly, very gracefully.Each character is very interesting and well acted. As in any significant narrative, the characters actually develop before your eyes, and change.The setting, the landscape is very beautiful. Excellent music suiting the region. Nice, subtle touches of humor despite the grimness of what transpires.Hope this one becomes more well-known, by word of mouth.