Film Review: Dede (2017)

Copyright: Corinth Films

There is a deep-rooted and ancient strength locked in the sight of mountains. These distant and seemingly eternal elements of our world seem to have seen it all - they have been a silent witness to humanity in all of its struggles, glory, and despair. Through all of it, the mountains and their frozen peaks remained unmoved by the stories of mankind. They simply witnessed them. In the Dede movie as well, the entire tragic story plays out framed by the mountain peaks of Georgia. Located in the heart of Eurasia, this country and its isolated province of Svaneti is the setting in which a simple yet heartbreaking story of the movie takes place. It starts with an event that is never mentioned or shown in the film - the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the onset of the Georgian Civil War. In Svaneti, two fighters arrive in a small village, looking for the women that promised to David, one of the pair. His comrade, Gegi, follows him, but knows that a difficult time is ahead - the girl in question, Dina, does not want to become a part of the marriage arranged by her grandfather.

Instead, she loves Gegi, but both feel that the world around them, just like the mountains, cares little about their feelings. After all, that is how things have always been in the patriarchal community that seemingly changed very little over the centuries. Yet, even in the isolated snowy valley, the love individuals feel towards one another is the harbinger of change.

Directed by Mariam Khatchvani, the movie clearly showcases the young filmmaker's vast experience both about her homeland and her storytelling craft. In many moments, Dede feels like a documentary. From the rituals following death, the start of the New Year or a village justice tribunal, the movie appears as something deeply rooted in the land on which it was shot. The same goes for the actors and the pacing at which the film develops. In Svaneti, time passes on a different scale - there are no clocks in any of the shots and the seasons of the year tell more about that than any mechanical device.

However, in spite of its minimalistic environment of bare hills and barely furnished village homes, Khatchvani shows the rich and intricate inner workings of her characters. All of them face a clash of loyalty and their true feelings. Loyalties are many in Svaneti - to one’s family, tradition, comrades at arms and even St. George, the protector saint of the country. That is why their efforts to love run deep, but so do vengeance and the inability to forgive even their closest family members.

It would be easy to label Dede as a never-ending fight of a single woman for her freedom - there is no doubt that the plot includes this element. But, the film is much more than that. It is an exploration of a world locked away, far beyond the rest of the civilization, hidden among the clouds and snowy mountaintops. It is a tale of beauty and suffering, about a people whose way of life is slipping through their hands and how this maybe should happen for many to become liberated from the realities that are not of their own choosing.

Mariam Khatchvani provides a look inside of that world with an eye for beauty and a gentle narrative style that makes the entire film feel completely organic, something that is one with the place where it was made. Dede too, like the mountains, is a witness to its character and it plays its role perfectly.

Learn more about Dede here. The film will be released on December 12th, 2018 in US & Canada on Amazon Prime, retail DVD (Amazon), IndieFlix and Vimeo on Demand.