Tangerines

Director: Zaza Urushadze
Year Released: 2013
Rating: 2.0

During a civil war in Georgia, Estonian tangerine farmers Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak) and Margus (Elmo NĂ¼ganen) save - and care for - two wounded soldiers/mercenaries: Chechen Ahmed (Giorgi Nakashidze) and Georgian actor Niko (Mikheil Meskhi), both at opposite sides of the conflict. You can guess ahead of time they aren't going to get along. Despite getting a strong performance from wise patriarch Ulfsak, the script is naive and pat: usher out the symbolism (the title fruit, the constantly wound cassette tape), show the "soldiers" making check-ups on Ivo's home, create rapidly escalating verbal arguments between Ahmed and Niko and then ... well, everyone will just 'grow' as people and no longer want to kill each other and realize We're In It Together and War Is Hell (how ... easy?). It's well-intentioned, naturally - it made me look up another case of ethnic cleansing I admittedly knew nothing about - and nicely photographed, if weightless.