In Bloom + My Happy Family Blu-ray Movie
HomeIn Bloom + My Happy Family Blu-ray Movie 
Slipcover in Original Pressing / Grzeli nateli dgeebi + Chemi bednieri ojakhiBig World Pictures | 2013-2017 | 2 Movies | 221 min | Not rated | Jan 30, 2024
Price
List price:Listed on Amazon marketplace
Movie rating
Movie has not been rated yetBlu-ray rating
| Users |  | 0.0 |
| Reviewer |  | 3.5 |
| Overall | | 3.5 |
Overview
In Bloom + My Happy Family (2013-2017)
Early ‘90s, in Tbilisi, the capital of the newly independent Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The country is facing violence, war on the Black Sea coast (Abkhazia) and vigilante justice that plague society. But for Eka and Natia, fourteen-year-old inseparable friends, life just unfolds―in the street, at school, with friends or Eka’s elder sister. Although they are already dealing with men’s dominance, early marriage and disillusioned love, for these two girls in bloom, life just goes on. Literature teacher Manana has been married for 25 years and lives in a three-bedroom flat in Tbilisi with her husband, parents, two adult children, and her son-in-law. But on the evening of her 52nd birthday, she announces to the surprise of her family that she wants to leave. When she actually packs her suitcase and leaves, the family is shocked and incredulous: Where is she going? What is the reason for the decision? She is past the age for a divorce and has what everyone would call a good husband. But Manana sticks to her decision and does something unheard of in Georgia’s patriarchal society: She moves into a small apartment to live on her own.
| Foreign | 100% |
| Drama | 72% |
Specifications
Video
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
Georgian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles
English
Discs
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Packaging
Slipcover in original pressing
Playback
Region A (B, C untested)
Review
Rating summary
| Movie |  | 4.0 |
| Video |  | 4.5 |
| Audio | | 4.0 |
| Extras | | 0.0 |
| Overall | | 3.5 |
In Bloom + My Happy Family Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 27, 2024The sovereign Eastern European nation of Georgia has two Days of Independence. The first, on May 26th, celebrating the 1918 adoption of the Act of Independence, which established the Democratic Republic of Georgia in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The second... is more complicated. By 1920, the Soviet Union had officially recognized Georgia as an independent nation, though this would only hold true for a mere year. Russia would suddenly invade Georgia in 1921, annex the country in 1922, and maintain rule for another seventy years, until 1991, when Georgia once again asserted its global independence. Which brings us to Georgia's second Day of Independence; not an official holiday -- April 9, 1991 -- but one that has become a "Day of National Unity, Civic Concordance and Remembrance". Alas, 1991, nor independence or any number of holidays, did not bring the country peace. Shortly after the election and deposing of the first Georgian president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, a bloody inter-ethnic civil war erupted that would last for two years. Nearly two decades of ensuing socioeconomic strife and cultural upheaval followed, which resulted in an additional presidential deposition, a pro-Western shift in power in 2003, the Russo-Georgian War of 2008, various other conflicts and, finally, the creation of a parliamentary democracy in 2012 (by way of the Georgian Dream party) that has left the little-nation-that-could struggling to not only maintain its independence, but peace and prosperity as well.
In the last twelve years of Georgia's striving for greater stability and station, a series of unique Georgian films have emerged; films that not only tell stories of personal heartache and turmoil, but also touch on the pain and uncertainty of a nation seemingly forever at war within and without to become something more. Two such films, writing/directing team Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß's sobering coming-of-age tale In Bloom (2013) and somber but inspiring drama My Happy Family (2017), are collected here by Big World Pictures and Vinegar Syndrome and offer a rare glimpse into the battles for independence and individuality modern Georgian girls and women face in growing up and growing old in a country of vulnerability, powerlessness, expectation and tradition.
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Click here for our full review of
In Bloom.
Click here for our full review of My Happy Family.
In Bloom + My Happy Family Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
Note: Odd-numbered screenshots are of 'In Bloom', while even-numbered screenshots are from 'My Happy Family'.
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Click here for our video review of
In Bloom.
Click here for our video review of My Happy Family.
In Bloom + My Happy Family Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
- Click here for our audio review of
In Bloom.
Click here for our audio review of My Happy Family.
In Bloom + My Happy Family Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
The only extras included are a trailer for In Bloom, along with a series of additional Big World Pictures trailers. I would have been particularly excited to watch a long-form interview with the filmmakers or even an English-language or subtitled Georgian audio commentary, for one or both films.
In Bloom + My Happy Family Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
In Bloom and My Happy Family make for a terrific Georgian double feature from filmmakers Nana & Simon. Big World Pictures's Blu-ray release is a strong one as well, with a pair of praise-worthy AV presentations. More extras would have certainly added value but that doesn't make this two-film release's pricepoint any less appealing. Recommended.