Sight&Sound - 04.2020

REVIEWS

62 | Sight&Sound | April 2019

See Feature

on page 40

Reviewed by Ben Walters

“You should be like a nail,

you’re too soft,” an instructor

at the National Georgian

Ensemble tells aspiring

young dancer Merab (Levan

Gelbakhiani). “Georgian dance is based on

masculinity.” The enmeshed imperatives

of gender performance, cultural expression

and national belonging underpin And Then

We Danced, a powerful and moving drama

written and directed by Levan Akin, a Swedish

filmmaker of Georgian descent. It’s centred

around the evolution of Merab’s rivalry with

new dancer Irakli (Bachi Valishvili) into an erotic

connection, and the related intensification of

his struggle to accommodate his more fluid,

emotive form of dance – and of living – with

normative expectations. Akin based his script on

interviews with dancers in Tbilisi and he reports

facing hostility from dance institutions for

exploring homosexual desire within the sector.

In its outlines, the film’s Bildungsroman

narrative and broadly realist tone align

with a cycle of recent queer dramas, such as

Switzerland’s Mario (2018), which was set among

aspiring footballers. And Then We Danced stands

out, though, for its nuanced characterisation,

powerful acting, rich attention to social context,

and a sophisticated technique whose subtle

balance of fluidity and stillness aligns with

Merab’s sinuous style of performance. The

dance sequences in particular are captivating

and propulsive, giving magnetic form to

the growing chemistry between Merab and

Irakli. Elsewhere, Akin choreographs lengthy,

deceptively complex shots that immerse us in

the intense milieu of the dance academy – part

macho locker room, part cultural hothouse,

part youth club – or in the modest flat shared

by Merab, his brother David (Giorgi Tsereteli)

and their mother and grandmother.

Such networks, often lubricated by heavy

drinking, are thematically central to And Then

We Danced. It’s a story about the invidious choice

Merab seems to face between powerful forms

of collective living (the ensemble, the family,

the neighbourhood), which offer belonging

and meaning while abhorring queerness, and

the possibility of a subjectively fulfilled life

elsewhere, apparently dependent on solitude.

Scenes featuring just one character are few,

and generally show Merab in closeted distress.

The film in no way sugarcoats Georgian

homophobia, but nor does it deny the value of

normative bonds. There’s affecting nuance to

Merab’s relationships with Irakli, David and

Mary (Ana Javakhishvili), his dance partner

since childhood. Gelbakhiani, a dancer making

his acting debut here, brings a moving balance

of fragility and resolve to each exchange.

There’s subtleness too in the story’s treatment

of lineage and tradition. And Then We Danced

recognises the layers of meaning, memory

and hope that can be embedded in personal

objects – an earring, a jacket – rendering

them both cherished relics and engines of

change. And it attends to the forces that mould

traditions, the malleable contexts shaping

supposedly ageless customs. Georgian dance,

it notes, was not always as inflexible as some

contemporary proponents would insist.

This sense of contingency also applies to the

kinds of collective life that are seen as so vital

to Georgian society. When Merab is told – in a

spirit of concern rather than cruelty – that there’s

no place for gay people in Georgia, it seems a

credible assessment. Yet the film also suggests

it’s more complex than that. Merab’s erotic

experiences with Irakli open him up to new ways

of seeing and being, including an introduction

to Tbilisi’s queer night scene. Its own distinct

forms of affection, support, aggravation, jeopardy

and euphoria suggest at least the possibility

of a life beyond the poles of conformity and

atomisation, dancing to a different rhythm.

Tbilisi, the present. Alongside his irresponsible brother

David, Merab studies at the academy of the prestigious

National Georgian Ensemble of traditional dance.

The instructors, who champion the form as a rigid

expression of masculine patriotism, criticise Merab’s

softer style. The brothers live with their mother and

grandmother, and Merab works as a waiter to help

support them. With competition to audition for the main

ensemble intense, Merab is wary of new dancer Irakli,

but they become friendly. Both are selected to audition.

Increasingly attracted to Irakli, Merab gently rebuffs the

advances of Mary, his dance partner since childhood.

The students go to Mary’s family’s country house for

her birthday; at night, Merab and Irakli masturbate

together somewhat awkwardly. The following night,

they have sex with more intimacy and affection.

David is expelled for absenteeism. Merab finds

him work as a waiter, but David causes them both to

be fired. Irakli seems to vanish. Distressed, Merab

bumps into a young man he previously cruised on

a bus, and is introduced to his friends. They have a

euphoric night out dancing. Merab learns that Irakli

is in his hometown with his sick father. Merab injures

his ankle, jeopardising his audition chances, but

painfully rehearses anyway. David announces his

shotgun wedding. Irakli attends, but says he’s moving

home to marry and support his mother, leaving Merab

distraught. Merab acknowledges he might be gay;

David responds tenderly, but insists Merab’s best life

is outside Georgia. At the audition, supported by Mary,

Merab defiantly dances with feminine fluidity and grace.

And Then We Danced

Sweden/Georgia/France 2019

Director: Levan Akin

Certificate 15 112m 46s

Produced by

Mathilde Dedye

Ketie Danelia

Written by

Levan Akin

Director of

Photography

Lisabi Fridell

Edited by

Levan Akin

Simon Carlgren

Production Design

Teo Baramidze

Music

Zviad Mgebry

Ben Wheeler

Sound Design

Beso Kacharava

Costume Design

Nini Jincharadze

Choreographers

Georgian Folk Dance:

anonymous

Contemporary Dance:

Natia Chikvaidze

©French Quarter

Film, RMV Film

AB, Inland Film AB,

Takes Film, AMA

Productions

Production

Companies

Produced by French

Quarter Film and

Takes Film

In co-production with

AMA Productions,

RMV Film, Inland Film,

Sveriges Television

With production

support from the

Swedish Film Institute

With support from

Région Île-de-France

in partnership

with CNC – Centre

National du Cinéma

et de l’Image

Animée, Aide aux

Cinémas du Monde,

Institut français,

Konstnärsnämnden

• Swedish Arts
  Grants Committee
  Supported by
  Enterprise Georgia
  A film by Levan Akin
  Executive Producers
  Ludvig Andersson
  Mattias Sandström

Cast

Levan Gelbakhiani

Merab

Bachi Valishvili

Irakli

Ana Javakhishvili

Mary

Kakha Gogidze

Aleko, dance teacher

Anano Makharadze

Sopo

Ninutsa Gabisonia

Ninutsa

Levan Gabrava

Luka

Dachi Babunashvili

Rati

Saba Abashidze

Vakhtang

Giorgi Aladashvili

Gela

Soso Abramishvili

Shalva, restaurant

owner

Giorgi Tsereteli

David

In Colour

[1.78:1]

Subtitles

Distributor

Peccadillo

Pictures Ltd

Two to tango: Marlen Egutia, Levan Gelbakhiani

Credits and Synopsis