Opening on text exposition and a map to pin point the location of the documentary, 'Salt for Svanetia' seeks to show the cold, desolate, isolated world of the villagers of the remote mountain village of Svanetia. The director goes to great lengths to showcase this village and its villagers as lonely and isolated in the first shots of the film. The film also carries a strong communist message, describing the village's need once for guard towers to protect against the cruel monarchy, and the good that the new communist government is doing for these villagers. The film rests much of its documentary stylization on the ideas described by the members of 'KinoEye,' with pseudo naturalistic shots that seems to show impossible scenes, such as directly down the barrel of a gun mid-conflict, and the entire saga of men going up a mountain and being caught in an avalanche. These scenes seem to use staging and much pre planning to create the necessary effect for the thesis of the film, which seems to be that this village's suffering is due to remoteness, a struggle that roads built by the new government will solve. 'Salt for Svanetia' is nothing like current documentaries, and thusly the story must follow a different structure and pattern. The theme is conveyed through both inter title cards and the kinetic shots and editing used to show urgency and danger within the film. Using montage techniques, unrelated shots are frequently put together to add to the story and support the thesis. The use of montage frequently takes the audience through the unfamiliar rituals and habits of the town, such as sheep shearing, hat making, and funeral rites. The way it is formatted and cut together makes the film feel both educational as well as subjectively pointed, especially with the message of how this village's struggle for salt to survive can be helped. Overall, it is beautifully filmed and the choice of shots helps to create and convey an idea of a desperate, isolated peoples that might only be saved by a new government.
Review of Salt for Svanetia
