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This fable of post-Soviet existence is also a portrait of three women of different generations — stubborn, dominating Eka (Esther Gorintin); her daughter, Marina (Nino Khomassouridze); and Marina’s 25-year-old daughter, Ada (Dinara Droukarova) — who share a large apartment in Tbilisi. Eka’s son, Otar, has gone to Paris in search of a better life; his mother lives for his letters and the hope of seeing him again. When word comes that Otar has died, Marina and Ada decide to keep the news from Eka, but the moment of truth approaches as she decides to go to Paris to find him. Director Julie Bertuccelli’s graceful and compassionate style makes what could have been a sticky exercise into a marvel of tact. She avoids the obvious ironies the story offers while concentrating on subtleties of character: Ada’s impatience over her lot; Marina’s resentment of her mother’s preference for Otar. Ninety-year-old Gorintin is a stunner, but Droukarova’s restrained, smoldering performance is no less great; it’s to her that the film owes its emotional payoff. In French with English subtitles. (102 minutes)
BY CHRIS FUJIWARA
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