When we fall in love we become different people, leaving old ways behind to face the unknown. Something like this happens to Lisa and Giorgi in Alexandre Koberidze’s WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY?, an observational report—narrated by its director—set mostly on the picturesque banks and bridges of the Rioni River running through central Kutaisi.
After literally bumping into each other on the street, the would-be protagonists experience what might be a coup de foudre—though it’s impossible to tell given the deliberately flat effect of all the film’s performances. But before they can meet again as planned, a curse takes hold—Lisa and Giorgi’s faces, bodies, and voices are altered, rendering them unrecognizable to one another.
This surreal conundrum plays out as a study of the everyday: What draws our attention? How often do we really see what we’ve been looking at? How willing our we to place ourselves in the hands of chance? Like Antonioni’s camera in Blow Up, Koberidze’s beguiling work leans into the mystery of what is hiding in plain sight.
WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY? is now playing in West Los Angeles. See link below for details.
WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY?
Directed by Alexandre Koberidze
Laemmle Royal
11523 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Los Angeles
Now playing
Alexandre Koberidze, What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? (2021), from top: Oliko Barbakadze and Giorgi Ambroladze; Ani Karseladze; Giorgi Bochorishvili; English-language poster; What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? scene; Bochorishvili. Images courtesy and © the filmmaker and Mubi.
