Tangerines (2013)
Not every war-movie needs to be a history lesson and this movie uses the war in Abkhazia as the framework for this simple yet powerful story. I don’t know much more about this war before or after, but the intricate details of the conflict isn’t the central point here. You could say most anti-war movies has the same moral message and that may be true here as well. Seeing the enemy in the eye to find out that fighting is meaningless doesn’t need to particular original, because it can be done in new profound ways. The minimalist story took a little while to hook me, and I did feel some of the developments was a bit constructed to get the message across, but everything is well played, subtle and slowly builds the character growth. Dramatic moments hits hard without the need for big violins or long emotional scenes. What struck me in particular here, which is what sets it a bit apart from many other war movies, is showing the grotesque absurdity of not even being able to recognize who the enemy is. It is meaningless to fight wars because we are different, and equally pointless when we are the same. At the core of all the characters portrayed here is a sense of personal honor and being true to ones own word, showing in the end that people in need deserve help no matter who they are.
Rating: 3.5