November 29, 2014, 1:30 p.m. — Our Courtyard aka Our Yard (1956)
Our Courtyard aka Our Yard
1956. USSR. Directed by Rezo Chkheidze. With Sofiko Chiaureli, Giorgi Shengelaia, Leila Abachidze. The picaresque village comedy is updated for Georgia’s postwar urban realities in Rezo Chkheidze’s lyrical tale of life, love, and the pursuit of individual happiness and the collective good inside a chaotic Tbilisi apartment block. Students, scientists, factory workers, and idle gossips call out from the balconies, led by our hero, Dato, a strapping student and factory worker with an eye for the lovely Tsitsino. Inspired by both Italian Neorealism and a swelling pride in what modern Georgia could accomplish, Our Courtyard boasts a star turn by Giorgi Shengelaia, later to become one of Georgia’s most accomplished filmmakers. In Georgian; English subtitles. 89 min.
