Brigands - Chapter VII

This subtle Georgian satire is seemingly about the violence of mankind and the unending cycle of history repeating itself. Having never before seen any of director Otar Iosseliani's films nor read anything about Brigands - Chapter VII we have to admit that for most of the plot we were baffled as to the point. The movie is framed in a small cinema, where the projectionist is drunk and puts the reels on in the wrong order so the story slips between multiple time periods. For the most part the same actors are used for similar roles in each era but also some new ones are mixed in each time, leaving little in the way of continuity for the untrained eye to find. The main actor, at least the one the camera seems to focus on the most, plays a modern bum, a Stalinist goon, and a medieval royal. There is also a massacre of middle-aged, naked, partying French arms dealers by a child.

Straight-faced absurdity, presented through a combination of theatrical acting and a setting where human life has entirely lost its value, permeates almost every minute of the film. The picture quality is bad (the film looks like it was initially recorder onto a VHS from TV and then transfered to DVD), leaving the strongest impression of all on the viewer: low budget PBS daytime fodder. Which is, quite possibly, the only accurate idea in this review. Blame it on the subtitles if you want, but the movie was really that confusing.

BOOOOOOOO!
1.5 out of 5
Buy this movie:Brigands - Chapter VII

Plot: 1
Imagery: 2
Originality: 1
Soundtrack: 1
Overall: 1.5