Salt for Svanetia (1930)
"Jim Shvante (marili svanets)" (original title)

Director:

Mikhail Kalatozov

Writer:

Sergei Tretyakov (based upon an article by)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

snowing | explosion | ox | barley | horse | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Georgian

Release Date:

24 May 1930 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

Salt for Svanetia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sakhkinmretsvi

Technical Specs

Runtime:

55 min 54 min (1997 alternate)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Kalatozov in his element

This early Kalatozov documentary about hardships in a remote village in Georgia shows that all his ideas and inventions were with him from the start. Though not the unadulterated festival of inconceivable images that his later films became, this is still full of plenty of unforgettable sequences. In one scene villagers are using an old, rickety pulley to bring water up a tower. It starts out cutting from a simple shot of the water bucket to a simple shot of the villagers, then the cutting becomes faster and faster and the shots get closer and closer and the camera swings back and forth with the villagers as they heave and how and then suddenly a cut is made to the perspective of the water inside the bucket as it gets pulled up the tower. This is merely a single example of the many unforgettable things to be seen in this film. Highly recommended for anyone interested in documentaries and especially early Soviet cinema, and this is absolutely essential viewing for any fans of I AM CUBA or THE CRANES ARE FLYING.