Once Upon a Time there was a Singing Blackbird

Once Upon a Time There Was a Singing Blackbird
Iko shashvi mgalobeli
Soviet Union
1970
85 Min
Black and White
Georgian
DIR Otar Iosseliani
SCR Dimitri Eristavi, Otar Iosseliani, Sh. Kakichashvili, Semyon Lungin, Otar Mekhrishvili, Ilya Nusinov
DP Abessalom Maisuradze
CAST Gela Kandelaki, Gogi Chkheidze, Jansug Kakhidze, Irine Jandieri, Elene Landia
ED Julietta Bezuashvili
MUSIC Temur Bakuradze
My Rating: 5/5


Guia is a busy man. As he remarks to his mother, “He has so much to do!”, but what he does is arguably inconsequential. He is a very likeable lad and everyone seems to want a piece of him. He has very little attention span and hence keeps flitting around from one place to another but never fails to touch upon other people’s lives, even if its in a small way.

Guia is essentially a drummer in a conservatory, playing on an orchestra. He has a 90min break between his drumming task and he doesn’t waste that time. He ensures that he spends time with all his mates, girlfriends and family, even if its not to their complete satisfaction. The conductor of the orchestra is annoyed with the way Guia disappears in-between, raising everyone’s blood pressure until finally arriving at the nick of the time. He wants to get rid of him but cannot find a good reason for doing so, since Guia always manages to play at the right time.

Guia appears to be extremely accident prone. He is an inherently curious person and hence can rarely walk with his eyes on the road. There are so many interesting things happening around him, that he cannot help but try and absorb as much as he can, before it is too late.

One of Guia’s friend(a doctor) tells him that he isn’t doing what he is supposed to do. A rather profound statement if we think of it. Does any human being know what he is supposed to do in his life? Guia at least makes an attempt to do as much as he can.