简介：ThehorrificwarinChechnya,aneighborofGeorgia,givesaspecialpoignancytoOtarIosseliani’sfascinating,four-hour,made-for-televisiondocumentaryonGeorgiawhich,likehisdelightfulChasingButterflies(SFIFF1993),wasproducedinFrance.IosselianipresentsthehistoryofthisformerSovietrepublicthroughbeautifullyinterwovenimagesoflandscapes,artworkandclipsfromotherGeorgianfilmmakerssuchasNikolozShengalayaandTenghizAbuladze.Heilluminatesthepartplayedrecentlybytwopoliticians,bothKGBmenbutwithverydifferentdestinies:ZviadGamsakhurdia,anultranationalisticdemagoguewhodiedinexile;andEduardShevardnadze,whoisthepresidentofGeorgiatoday.Iosselianidivideshisfilmintothreesections,“Prelude,”“Temptation”and“Trial,”whichmovefromearlyGeorgianhistorythroughthe1801Russiantakeoverandoninto20th-centuryevents—theRussianRevolution,perestroikaandtherecentcivilwar.Alone,Georgiagivesaspellbindingevocationofthisbeautiful,hospitableland,whosetormentis,accordingtoIosseliani,“asymptomofwhattakesplaceatthismomentinourplanet,andgivesusachancetomeasurethemagnitudeofthemodernhumantragedy.”…