“Religion was what united the Russians and the Georgians”

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Russian television will broadcast the movie “Icon” on July 26. It is about friendship, love, the common faith and common values of the Russian and Georgian people. The authors of the movie say that it is a joint production by legendary Russian and Georgian artists. The producer is Mikhail Khubutia. Supervisor – Rezo Chkheidze. Art director – Irakly Kvirikadze. Directors – Zaza Merabishvili and Dzhaba Ruadze. Cinematographer – Nugzar Nozade. Music by Enri Lolashvili. Cast: Yekaterina Rednikova, Boris Shcherbakov, Nato Gagnidze, Anatoly Pashinin, Levan Khurtsia, Nika Chikvadze and Andrey Panin.

Vestnik Kavkaza managed to talk to Irakly Kvirikadze about the movie.

-          What is “Icon” about? You’ve been its art director.

-          Georgia and Russia are neighbours; the history is rich. There is great love between Russian and Georgia, considering Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoy, Griboyedov. Once I was writing a script about Griboyedov together with Nikita Mikhalkov… Our small simple story, which seems to be far removed from these high themes, appeared to be interesting, I think.

Setting: our days, a Georgian heroine and a Russian heroine, their meeting, twists between characters who are Russians and Georgians. It is about love, friendship, they communicate sincerely, get into difficult situations, and life demands passing an exam in truthfulness. Our heroes pass it. That is our movie in short.

-          So, is this the history of two nations in miniature?

-          Maybe it is. Maybe it is a model of something bigger which is told briefly.

-          How long did the shooting last?

-          The movie was shot in Georgia and Russia. It took a lot of time. There were many problems because difficult events were taking place. We didn’t want to do anything insincere, with a hidden agenda. We wanted to look honestly at life’s eyes, at history, at our modern times. There were many corrections. We didn’t iron out difficulties, but made them sharper.

-          What political developments in relations between Georgian and Russia were the background to your film?

-          The movie was shot about two years ago. I was involved in editing, dialogue, relationships between the authors and the material – that’s what a person usually does when he or she is an art director. I wasn’t a director, I was more an artist for being useful.

-          It is said that Andrey Panin took part in the film. Was it his last role?

-          I don’t know whether it was his last role, but it was one of the last. As far as I know he was filming in Bakhtiyar Hudoynazarov’s movie, but didn’t finish the role because of the tragic events. In our movie he played not a big, but a very talented role.

-          Whom did he play?

-          During searches for an icon one of the heroes comes to the man whom Panin was playing. His daughter can’t walk. And Panin’s hero blames himself for this. Even though he was an atheist, when he met the hero who was searching for an icon, a priest, he tuned into the beat of religion. Don’t think that it is very snobbish, in the movie it looks natural and detailed. His daughter got to her feet. I am not a fan of such stories, because they are a bit melodramatic. At least this is my point of view. We tried to avoid melodrama.

-          The movie is titled “Icon.” Does this claim to be one of the “spiritual ties” between two nations?

-          A common faith in one God, religious and spiritual closeness have always been unifying ties in Russian-Georgian relations. Religion was what united the Russians and the Georgians.

-          Both the Russian and Georgian Patriarchies took part in making the movie, didn’t they?

-          Yes, they did. The Georgian side was very interested in this, the Georgian Church. The head of the Georgian Church read the script and commented on it. He is a composer, and I can say that one of his laudis sounds. The same went for the Russian side

-          The movie also has a political aspect, directed at improvIMF Russian-Georgian relations. Why has such a film only appeared today?

-          The movie couldn’t appear earlier, ahead of the events which are felt in the air and even in your question. We began to make the film after these events. All of us had honest goals; and I think it was not shot because somebody said that “we must find ties between our nations now."