''Tjvjik'', ''Dzhvzhig'', or ''Tzhvzhik'' Vigen Galstyan, ''Moṛatsʻvats arvest: haykakan kinoazdagir'' ''(Forgotten art: the Armenian film poster)'', Art-Film, 2006, , p. 21 "Signalled by Arman Manaryan's delightful short film 'Tzhvzhik' (1961), it washed ashore in 1965 from Moscow with the arrival of Frunze Dovlatyan and his first Armenian film 'Hello, it's me'. At the time it was one of the rare Soviet films that tried..." ( hy, Տժվժիկ , "Fried Liver") is a 1962

Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

n short film by Arman Manaryan. It is based on Atrpet's novel of the same name. Despite being Manaryan's first film and just 20 minutes-long, ''Tjvjik'' is considered one of the classics of the Armenian film history.

Background

Arman Manaryan, the film's director was born in Iran in 1929. He migrated to Soviet Armenia in 1946. In 1952 he graduated from the

Yerevan State Conservatory Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan ( hy, Երևանի Կոմիտասի անվան պետական կոնսերվատորիա), also known as Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory (YKSC) or Yerevan State Conservatory (YSC), is a state-owned colleg ...

and in 1962 he graduated from the

All-Union State Institute of Cinematography The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (russian: Всероссийский государственный институт кинематографии имени С. А. Герасимова, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinemat ...

, the main cinematography school in the Soviet Union, where he studied under

Grigori Roshal Grigori Lvovich Roshal (russian: Григорий Львович Рошаль; October 21, 1899 – January 11, 1983) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed 26 films between 1926 and 1968. Biography Grigori Roshal was born on ...

. At the time of his studies in Moscow he shot ''Tjvjik'' as his

diploma work In art, a reception piece is a work submitted by an artist to an academy for approval as part of the requirements for admission to membership. The piece is normally representative of the artist's work, and the organization's judgement of its skil ...

. Manaryan started to work at Armenfilm studio in 1962.

Plot

The story is set in the city of

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...

Western Armenia Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the eastern parts of Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that are part of the historical homeland of the Armenians. Weste ...

, the Armenian-populated area of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

at the end of the 19th century. Nerses Akhpar, a poor old man, goes to the local shop to buy food for his family. "In a close-knit community, food was one of the main topics of discussion. Everybody knew through the grapevine what was on each other's table for dinner. The status of town inhabitants was measured by the number of visits to the butcher shop, which was pretty much the center of the Armenian universe." Nikoghos Agha, who is the owner of the shop, gives him liver for free. Every time they meet, Nikoghos Agha reminds Nerses Akhpar about the liver he gave away. At the end of the story, Nerses buys the liver he owned and after finding Nikoghos Agha throws it into his face in the presence of several others screaming "Here is your '' tjvjik''." The 2006 book ''Armenian Food: Facts, Fiction & Folklore'' jokingly concludes ""Charity exacerbated the resentment felt by the recipient", modern psychoanalysts would say."

Cast

Hrachia Nersisyan Hrachia Nersisyan ( hy, Հրաչյա Ներսիսյան, 24 November 1895 – 6 November 1961) was a Soviet-Armenian film actor. He was honoured with title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1956. Nersisyan was born in Nicomedia, Ottoman Empir ...

- Nerses Akhpar *Tsolak Amerikyan - Nikoghos Agha *Arman Kotikyan - Hovsep

Significance, perception and impact

''Tjvjik'' is primarily significant, because it is the first ever film in the

Western Armenian Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based ...

language. Western Armenian was spoken by the Armenians in the

and had come close to being extinct as a results of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

. The film reflects the "unassimilated" life of Armenians under Turkish rule in the 19th century. Several lines and expression from the film had become idioms in the Armenian colloquial. For example, the expression "don't make a story about ''tjvjik''" (տժվժիկի պատմություն սարքել). In 2006, DJ Serjo, one of the most notable Armenian house music producers, released his first album named ''Tjvjik''.

References

;Notes ;General *

External links

* *{{YouTube, AApvNi_FzYw, Tjvjik on ArmenFilm's channel
''Tjvjik''
on Vimeo