GSSR 1972 | Director: Lana Gogoberidze | Screenplay: Zaira Arsenishvili, Lana Gogoberidze | Camera: Giorgi Chelidze | Editing: Ketevan Tagniashvili | Music: Giya Kancheli | Cast: Zura Kipshidze, Goga Pipia, Tamari Vardanashvili, Eka Magalashvili, Sesilia Takaishvili | Production: Georgian Film Studio | b/w | DCP | 75 min | georgian OV with english SUB | Manuel Cam

It is springtime. After class, Zura, Khatuna, Leqso and Eka, a teenage clique, like to drive to the seaside in a "borrowed" car or revel in the hustle and bustle of the boulevards of Tbilisi. At the centre of the group's attention stands Zura, a talented competitive cyclist and son of a successful and domineering father. Alas, behind the youthful light-heartedness and sense of imminent transformation and growth, something is brewing: Zura, endearing but irresponsible, can count on his dad to bail him out of trouble no matter what he does – that is, until a terrible accident occurs and Khatuna insists on holding him accountable. This film, shot in CinemaScope, entertains with impressive shots of cycling races and testifies to Gogoberidze's great fascination for sports. Giya Kancheli's score is energetic and brimming with fitting impatience. "And so, the youth films of the 1960s became the 'cinema of moral unrest' of the following decade", as Evgeny Margolit commented on this wonderfully nuanced film. (Gaby Babić)

Content Notes