In Bloom

   In Bloom is a Georgian film co-directed by Nina Ekvtimishvili (from Tbilisi) and Simon Groß (from Berlin). It was a tale of a two fourteen years old schoolgirls Eka and Natia (played by two teenager Georgian actresses Lika Babluani & Mariam Bokeria respectively) from Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. The story was set in 1992, the year after Georgia gained independent from Soviet Union. At that time, Georgia faced a civil war, as the northwestern region of Abkhazia was declaring independence from Georgia.

   The two protagonists of the film, Eka and Natia were the best of friends. Not much of their past was mentioned in the film, but they went to the same school together and sat next to each other in school. They always walked together from school to home after school ended. Both had family issues and they always talked to each other about issues in their lives. Frequently, they dealt with school and street bullies together, and they stood for each other’s well being.

   Both Eka and Natia seemed to be very mature for their age. This might be due to the civil war in Georgia in 1992 and political tormoils that happened to the country between the late 80's and early 90's. Georgian children did not have a nurturing western-style childhood and were forced to grow up prematurely. Eka was a bit shy, had a calm, nurturing personality, and would rather solve problems by peaceful approaches. Her best friend Natia, however, was more outgoing, hot-headed, and confrontational. She was very protective toward the people she cared about, such as her little brother and Eka.

    Because of Natia was physically attractive, there were two boys (Kote and Lado) in the films that showed affection on her, though she only returned affection on one of them. According to the depiction of the film, Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, was far from a peaceful, orderly, and quiet city. People were short-temper, brash, and rude. They are not be reluctant to yell at eacher. Murders and homicides were not uncommon, as it was portrayed by the imprisonment of Eka's father. He was suspected to kill Kopla's father, and was put into a prison as a result.

   The audience was never told if Eka's father was guilty in killing Kopla's father, butKopla wanted to take his own revenge by harrassing and giving threats to Eka. In most parts of the world, children tend to learn from adults and treat their parents as role models. This is not the case for Eka and Natia, or their peers as well. Because of the ways most adults behaved in Georgia, kids did not seemed to have respect on the adults. For examples, no one in the class care about their hot-headed class teacher that screamed and yelled at her students all time. They seemed to be worn out by many different issues and they did not seemed to care about anyone else. After the teacher sent Natia home for throwing her bookpack, all of the class decided to run out of the classroom, and went to an amusement park instead.

    The Georgians had to face many difficulties in a newly independent society such as poverty and employment. I would recommend this film for anyone who is interested in the lives of post-1991 Georgia. It might be a depressing film, but it showed a realistic way of lives of how Georgians lived at that time. The film also gave audience some hope by showing the maturity and sensual ways of the main protagonists.