The Summer of Frozen Fountains

People fall in and out of love in this delightfully wistful romantic drama. A man suspects that his wife is having an affair when he discovers a gold necklace under their bed. A veteran photographer takes a photo every day from the same vantage point out his front window, inspired by the light at dawn and dusk. Annie, the photographer’s daughter, yearns for her husband Dato, who is in America. Dato’s 13-year-old brother, Nicky, is desperately, adolescently in love with Sally and struggles to show his affection. Brian, an Irish photojournalist—“the foreigner” in Tbilisi—intently tries to understand the culture and customs, seen from the height of his balcony or through the lens of his camera. Watching the comings and goings of Tbilisi’s younger generations are three men who time has almost forgotten: the ice-cream seller and two laborers, Merab and Zaza. Through their eyes, director Vano Burduli allows us to share a genial befuddlement at a changing Tbilisi, and a profoundly deep affection for the city and its flawed and beautiful inhabitants. Burduli guides each of his characters like the conductor of an orchestra; the result is a softly played symphony of humanity.