no time for
principles
by Douglas Messerli
Predictably, however, Nico gets on better with his fellow workers,
including a neighborhood girl, Marine (Marina Kartsivadze) with whom most of
the men in the plant are in love, and in only a few days, Marine, an outright
flirt who plays each of the men off against the others, has granted Nico two
meetings, while ignoring the attentions of the better dressed and more suave
Otari. The working men, moreover, have known Nico's father, and it is clear,
that despite Nico's inability to properly express himself and his general
shyness—seeming at times even to be a bit simple minded, more like a child than
a young man on the rise—that he is more beloved by all, including the impatient
head of the wine factory (Aleqsandre Omiadze).

As the staff meets to sample the wine and make the decision, they, one
by one, defer to the schedule, agreeing to bottle the wine instead of giving it
more time or adding gelatin to it which might enrichen its taste. It would take
too long to properly ferment. Only Nico, now a lab assistant, refuses to sign
on, stubbornly insisting that the company keep to the high level of products it
is known for. The head of the company chastises him for his stubbornness, and
others, including Otari are furious for his inability to go along with what
seems inevitable. This is no time for principles, they argue. Even the head of
the company's young, piano-playing son, explains to Nico that is not thinking,
that although Nico has more in common the head than the others—the company head
also drinks, gambles and plays billiards—he going about it the wrong way.
From his idealist perspective, embedded into his thinking through the
gentle grace of his family, the contemporary world seems to have no place for
him, and little by little, his faith is worn away, his diffidence erased.
Marine once again invites him to her apartment only to make fun of him in front
of her girlfriend. The local thug again threatens him, finally blackening
Nico's eye. Attempting to turn to his working friends, he finds them all out
with their families for the weekend. For the first time, Nico at home reveals
his anger, reverberating across his nieces' faces and the gentle passivity of
his mother.

The next day at work, the cask is scheduled to be emptied into bottles,
but before anyone can begin the process, Nico orders the workers to infuse it
with gelatin. The plant managers, discovering what he has done, are outranged,
Otari on the attack. Their jobs have been jeopardized. Called into the factory
head's office, they wait to hear of Nico's firing. Yet suddenly, the plant head
orders the others out, while quietly praising Nico for his acts. Although
clearly he nor anyone at the plant would dare to disobey Moscow, Nico, through
his committed individualism, has sustained the plant's reputation. Marine is
seen pouting in the background, as the shy young man now refuses to talk with
her. Despite his aspirations, Otari is the failure in this business, a stooge
willing to betray his own county for personal success.
Although the film is somewhat simplistic in its thematic, the excellent
direction and acting of its characters helped Iosseliani's film win the
FIPRESCI prize at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, and its black-and-white images
remain memorable.
Los
Angeles, July 15, 2012
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