Beautiful heartbreaking story, that puts into context the aftermath of a war. I thought the most thought provoking line was when one of the kids offered Tedo advice saying "Can you speak Russian or Abkhazian? No, then you're Georgian." Such a superficial division caused so much conflict and heart break.
This was echoed through out the movie, when Tedo would be honest where he was from, then his situation generally got worse. Finally at the end, he fully committed to being deaf and mute, and he was accepted (at least from what we saw as the movie closed).
I also found another scene compelling when a Georgian man picked a fight with a Russian (who had a machine gun). I kept wondering why someone would stand up to someone, even though the odds were not stacked in their favor. The Georgian man ended up dead, and I think this symbolized the over arching conflict between Russia and Georgia.
This was echoed through out the movie, when Tedo would be honest where he was from, then his situation generally got worse. Finally at the end, he fully committed to being deaf and mute, and he was accepted (at least from what we saw as the movie closed).
I also found another scene compelling when a Georgian man picked a fight with a Russian (who had a machine gun). I kept wondering why someone would stand up to someone, even though the odds were not stacked in their favor. The Georgian man ended up dead, and I think this symbolized the over arching conflict between Russia and Georgia.