Someone Else’s Children

Two siblings meet a kind woman who they think would be the perfect new mother for them. But ultimately the decision is with their father, who is still in love with his last girlfriend… who did not get on well with the children.

The 1950s were a period of unseen creative growth in the USSR: all over the empire, even in republics that had underdeveloped film production capabilities, young talents made their visions and ambitions seen and heard. The Georgian SSR had already a rich heritage in film, so it was not astonishing that it became a vanguard of the Soviet Union’s new cinema. Its most astonishing new voice was Tengiz Abuladze whose particular sense of realism connected smoothly with similar tendencies in Italy, France or Great Britain.

Abuladze’s early works focused on children. Here, it’s two youngsters who feel neglected by their single father and so spend a lot of time on the streets where they meet a kind, young woman who starts to take care of them. When she meets the kids’ father they make it clear what they see in her: a potential new mother. Now, here’s the problem: the father feels still attached to a woman who couldn’t deal with the children… A stylishly shot, gentle masterpiece ripe for re-discovery!

– Olaf Möller

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