Paprika 1991 Qartulad -

Made in 1991, the film foreshadows the coming Georgian Civil War (1991–93) and the collapse of infrastructure. The broken telephones, empty factories, and rotting tea leaves are metaphors for a nation abandoned by the Soviet center. Yet Iosseliani is not nostalgic — he mocks the villagers’ stubbornness as much as the state’s failure.

This review will focus on the film’s original Georgian context, its narrative structure, thematic depth, and Iosseliani’s unique cinematic language. First, a critical clarification: This film is NOT the 2006 Japanese anime Paprika by Satoshi Kon. The 1991 Paprika is a live-action, French-Georgian co-production directed by the exiled Georgian filmmaker Otar Iosseliani. It was shot primarily in Georgia (then still part of the dissolving USSR) just before the Soviet collapse, but funded largely by French money. In Georgia, it is known as Paprika 1991 qartulad (i.e., "in Georgian"). 2. Plot Summary (Spoiler-light) The film follows Paprika (played by Amiran Amiranashvili), a naïve, enthusiastic young engineer from Tbilisi. He is sent to a remote, decaying Georgian village to manage a state-run tea plantation. However, the village is populated by an eccentric, lazy, and highly philosophical group of elderly men who have no intention of working. Instead, they spend their days drinking wine, debating metaphysics, and sabotaging any form of progress. paprika 1991 qartulad