Our Blood is Wine: Reviving a Tradition in Georgia

The Soviets did the near impossible. They turned the richly diverse wines of Georgia into undrinkable swill. Under the occupation, all the distinctive regional strains of grapes went into the same vat, producing muddy grape juice. Gone were the varietals and varied local traditions. That is exactly what collectivization means. Happily, many Georgians are rekindling the ancient qvevri winemaking process. Filmmaker Emily Railsback and sommelier Jeremy Quinn introduce viewers to many of the new generation of traditional Georgian vintners in Our Blood is Wine (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York and Chicago.

Georgian wine has a well-deserved reputation for being special, but few outside the sovereign nation have tasted the real deal. Often it is more acidic but less alcoholic than other wines, but it truly spans the gamut of body and taste. When Quinn wanted to connect with the essence of what wine should be, he came to Georgia.

Although the local crops and qvevri techniques (huge clay pots that ferment underground) atrophied during the Captive Nation years, they persisted household to household, bottle to bottle, like winemaking samizdat. With a resurgence of interest in Georgian culture underway, many micro-wineries are now producing for an export market (largely Japan, where they know fine wine). Ironically, the boom in international interest really exploded when Russia placed an embargo on Georgian wine.

OBIW is a very casual film that was literally shot on an iPhone, but its lowkey nature suits its subject and participants. Although there is a very serious side to this story, Railsback focuses on the positive. There is a real camaraderie shared by the vintners and Quinn, as well as a spirit of joie de vivre when it is time to imbibe (and sing). There is also a palpable sense of excitement when long dormant regional wines are successfully revived—in one case after an estimated hiatus of three hundred years.

We also share a justified feeling of optimism that this qvevri renaissance can help fuel an economic revival. After all, their wines are organic and exclusive—perfect for the export market. It is just a breezy, down-to-earth viewing experience, like sharing a fine bottle of wine with new friends, amid a gorgeous scenic backdrop. Highly recommended for wine connoisseurs and those interested in post-Soviet economic and cultural developments, Our Blood is Wine opens this Friday (3/16) at the Village East in New York and the Music Box Theatre in Chicago.

5 Days of War: While the World Looked the Other Way

In early August, 2008, the Russian military invaded the free and democratic country of Georgia, leaving death and destruction in their wake. They are still there, occupying the so-called breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a fact the media has yet to notice. Indeed, the journalistic establishment did its best to look the other way, except for a hardy band of foreign correspondents who risked life and limb to cover the Russian atrocities. Finnish filmmaker Renny Harlin (yes, that Renny Harlin) dramatizes Georgia’s struggle to preserve its sovereign integrity through their lenses in 5 Days of War (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili was elected President as a Western-oriented reformer, the exact opposite of Russian PM Vladimir Putin. So committed to strengthening relations with America and NATO, Georgia contributed military forces to Operation Iraqi Freedom. For war reporter Thomas Anders, it is a good thing they did. As 5 Days opens, Capt. Rezo Avaliani’s unit arrives just in the nick of time to save him from a terrorist ambush, creating a bond of friendship between the two men. As Russia starts massing troops on the border, the psychologically wounded Anders heads back into the field, where he will encounter the good Captain again.

President Saakashvili and his American advisor scramble to rally world support, but the media is not interested. When CNN bothers to cover the story (yes, the network is mentioned by name), they only present the Russian government’s spin. Even more frustrating, legitimate journalist on the ground, like Anders and his hard drinking colleague Laurens “Dutchman” Roemer, are not able to place their dramatic stories of Russian war crimes (unflinchingly illustrated throughout the film), because their outlets simply do not care. Unfortunately, the Olympics will soon start, crowding beleaguered Georgia out of the media spotlight.

It will come as a shock to many that Renny Harlin had such a serious and timely film in him. Yet, it is important to remember the Cliffhanger director’s Finnish roots. Indeed, Saakashvili explicitly references Finland’s resistance to Soviet invaders in his climatic address to the nation. The director clearly has a passion for the story, but his action movie roots also serve the material quite well.

Frankly, it is a bit of a misnomer to call 5 Days a war film, because it was never a fair fight. However, Harlin and cinematographer Checco Varese (a former news cameraman who saw action in Bosnia and Chechnya) convey a vivid sense of what it is like to have the Soviet Russian war machine bearing down on you. It is a scarily convincing sensation, never really captured on film so effectively before.

A surprisingly good physical match for Saakashvili, Andy Garcia invests the film with real dignity and gravitas. In fact, his delivery of the President’s stirring national address might just get you a little choked up. Indeed, the Georgian characters are all quite credible and compelling, particularly Johnathon Schaech as the resourceful Capt. Avaliani.

Shrewdly, Val Kilmer plays to his new degenerate out-of-shape image as the cynical Dutchman. Rade Sherbedgia, Kilmer’s former co-star from The Saint, notches another memorable heavy role, playing Col. Demidov with more nuance than the Russians deserve. If there is a weak spot in the cast it is Rupert Friend, who only digs into his character just so far, in between dodging bullets and getting the stuffing kicked out of him. Still, he is serviceable enough to keep the film on track and firing on all cylinders.

Tightly helmed by Harlin, 5 Days is absolutely riveting as cinema when considered only according to strict formalist criteria, but of course there is much more to take into account. One suspects it was originally conceived with an even darker slap-in-the-face ending. Regardless, the final film is blisteringly angry and honest. Yet, it is also inspiring, depicting a small scrappy Eastern European nation standing up against a vastly more powerful aggressor, championing the values we advocate. Conversely, for nearly everyone working for a major media outlet, the film is a long cold glass of shame. One of the year’s best, 5 Days opens this Friday (8/19) in New York at the Angelika Film Center.