Father of a Soldier

Father of a Soldier

1965. USSR. Directed by Rezo Chkheidze. With Sergo Zakariadze. This old-fashioned tale of a father’s love for his son is the most beloved of all Georgian films due to its unapologetically heroic portrait of a taciturn Georgian farmer looking for his son in the midst of war. Throughout his harrowing journey into the heart of the fascist advancement and eventual Bolshevik comeback, the farmer’s love of the land is consistently contrasted with the waste of war. The incomparable Zakariadze perfectly inhabits the role, giving extra weight the the film’s devastating conclusion. In Russian, Georgian; English subtitles. 83 min.