''Tangerines'' ( ka, მანდარინები ''Mandarinebi'', et, Mandariinid) is a 2013

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

n film directed, produced and written by

Zaza Urushadze Zaza Urushadze ( ka, ზაზა ურუშაძე; 30 October 1965 — 7 December 2019) was a Georgian film director, screenwriter and producer. Biography Zaza Urushadze was a son of Ramaz Urushadze, a famous Soviet football goalkeep ...

. Set during the 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia, the film is a morality tale addressing issues of conflict, reconciliation and pacifism. It was filmed in

Guria Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 113,000 (2016), with Ozurgeti as the regional capital. Geography ...

. It was nominated for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

87th Academy Awards The 87th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2014 and took place on February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 ...

and was among the five nominated films at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards for

Plot

In a rural village of ethnic Estonians in Abkhazia, a Russian-backed separatist region in the newly independent

, Ivo (

Lembit Ulfsak Lembit Ulfsak (4 July 1947 – 22 March 2017) was a prominent Estonian stage and film actor. Ulfsak starred in the 2014 film ''Tangerines'' which was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards. It was also among the ...

) and his friend Margus (

Elmo Nüganen Elmo Nüganen (born on date 15 February 1962 in Jõhvi) is an Estonian theatre director, film director, and actor. He has been the artistic Director of the Tallinn City Theatre since 1992. He was a graduate of the Estonian Academy of Music an ...

) are the only two of their once large community who have not fled for Estonia after the outbreak of the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. Margus has delayed leaving until he can harvest his lucrative

tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...

crop. Ivo, a carpenter, is attempting to make enough wooden crates to hold all the unpicked tangerines, but doesn't reveal his reasons for staying. Two Chechen mercenaries fighting alongside the Abkhaz separatists show up and demand food from Ivo before leaving peacefully. However, they get into a firefight with

Georgian Army The Defence Forces of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის ძალები, tr), or Georgian Defence Forces (GDF), are the combined military forces of Georgia, tasked with the defense of the nation's indep ...

soldiers in front of Margus' house, leaving only one alive from each side. Ahmed (Giorgi Nakashidze), the surviving Chechen, and Nika (Mikheil Meskhi), a Georgian volunteer, are both gravely wounded, and Ivo brings them into his home to nurse them back to health. While both vow to kill each other once they have the strength, Ivo secures a pledge from each to not enact any vengeance under his roof. A great deal of tension ensues between the two enemies as they begin to recover over many days in the same tiny house. Slowly, the two begin to recognize the humanity and honor in each other. Under the moral tutelage of the senior and wise Ivo, the two move from hatred and antagonism, to respect and camaraderie. When Abkhaz soldiers come to the house, Ivo convinces Ahmed to tell them that Nika is also a fellow Chechen, but whose head wound has left him unable to speak. After a local military patrol fails to show to harvest the tangerines as planned, Margus is desperate. The Abkhaz soldiers, having set up camp nearby, promise to help harvest the tangerines in two days. That night, however, shelling hits the village, destroying Margus' property. Ahmed offers Margus a large wad of cash that he has made from being a mercenary, but Margus refuses money "made like that".

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

troops allied to the Abkhaz and Chechens later drive up to Ivo's house, finding Ahmed and Margus outside, and falsely accuse Ahmed of being Georgian. They are about to execute him when Nika shoots them from the house with a rifle. In the firefight, Margus is killed by Russian gunfire. Ahmed and Nika partner to fight the Russians, but Nika is shot dead by a wounded Russian before Ahmed finishes off Nika's killer. Ivo and Ahmed bury Margus and Nika. Ivo reveals that Nika's body lies next to that of his own son, who was killed when the war broke out in August 1992. Ivo tells Ahmed that if he had died instead of Nika, Ivo would have buried Ahmed next to his son as well. Ahmed tells Ivo that he misses his own family, and begins his drive home to a Chechnya that will be plunged into a similar bloody

less than two years later. He listens to a cassette tape of Georgian music that belonged to Nika.

Cast

as Ivo, an elderly Estonian farmer living in Abkhazia. He is a hawk-faced older fellow, who never hesitates; he instantly helps others, regardless of their "side" in this misery. * Giorgi Nakashidze as Ahmed, a wounded Chechen soldier, slightly wounded but eager to "kill that scumbag in the next room!" Ivo eventually gets him to promise not to kill Nika unless he steps outside the house. *

as Margus, a friend of Ivo, another Estonian farmer, with a tangerine orchard. He wants to make this sale so he can join his family in Estonia. * Mikheil (Misha) Meskhi as Nika, a wounded Georgian soldier and an ethnic Christian with shrapnel in his head. His hatred for Ahmed is every bit as venomous.

Critical reception

The film received an 88% rating from

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 66 reviews, with an average rating of 7.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Tangerines'' impassioned message and the strong work of a solid cast more than make up for the movie's flawed narrative and uneven structure." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". According to the film critic Anthony D'Alessandro, Nüganen drew a parallel to the 2014 Ukraine-Russia Conflict.

Accolades

References

External links