It
was a story Eduard Shevardnadze did not want re-visited. However, a play based
on the controversial 1983 attempted Aeroflot hijacking became an underground
hit in 2001, despite apparent attempts to censor it. Decades later, questions
remain regarding the precipitous use of force and just who was really
responsible for most of the casualties. However, there is no question the
resulting trial was little more than an old school Communist show trial. The
notorious crime and its punishment are coolly and dispassionately dramatized in
Rezo Gigineishvili’s Hostages (trailer here), which screens as
the closing film of the 2018 Toronto True Crime Film Festival.
Most
of the twentysomething hijackers were either artists or physicians, who enjoyed
some privileges as children of what we might ironically call Soviet Georgia’s
middle class. In fact, Gega Kobakhidze, the real-life hijacker on whom the
character of Nino is based, had just been cast in Tengiz Abuladze’s Repentance, which was banned for three
years until it was finally granted a release as part off the Glasnost liberalization.
Obviously, his part was recast.
The
idea was not well thought out. The seven friends hoped to hijack an Aeroflot
puddle-jumper bound from Tblisi to the nearby resort city of Batumi, so they
could divert it to Turkey (imagine a time when Turkey was considered an
environment of freedom). Using Nico and his fiancée Anna’s wedding party as
cover, the co-conspirators were not closely screened before boarding. However, after
that point, everything that could go wrong would go wrong.
Rather
surprisingly, Gigineishvili & Lasha Bugadze’s screenplay downplays many of
the contested issues swirling around the incident. Most of the casualties are
depicted as inadvertent collateral damage occurring during the actual hijacking
attempt, but many Georgians still have questions. However, there is a
white-haired, very Shevardnadze-looking figure who cuts off all attempts at
communication before they even start, sending in the Soviet stormtroopers
instead. In any event, the faithful representation of the show trial is
unambiguously damning.
Yet,
nobody can accuse Gigineishvili of waving a bloody shirt. His film is clearly
intended to appeal to the head with its rational dissection of this compounded
national tragedy rather than the heart. Frankly, this is an unusually aloof and
emotionally detached film that offers up practically no insights into the
characters’ inner thoughts and driving ambitions. Still, Tinatin Dalakishvili
manages to express Anna’s foreboding and remorse with quiet but devastating
effectiveness. Iliko Sukhishvili is also quite memorable as Father Daniil
(based on Father Theodore Chikhladze), the Orthodox priest who was conveniently
associated with the hijackers, which conveniently allowed the Soviets to sweep
him up as well.
Given
the Soviets’ subsequent legal railroading and judicial homicides, Hostages takes a lot of chances by
re-opening old, unhealed wounds in such a legalistic manner. Arguably, the
Socialist regime gets the most even-handed treatment it could hope for, but its
oppressive nature and downright petty nastiness still come through loud and
clear. It is an imperfect film, but also a fascinating viewing experience. It
also represents a rather adventurous selection for the Toronto True Crime fest,
expanding their scope well beyond serial killers and stalkers. Recommended as
an intriguing period production and a portrait of injustice, Hostages screens this Saturday (6/9),
during the Toronto True Crime Film Festival.
