''Salt for Svanetia'' ( ka, მარილი სვანეთს ''marili svanets''; ) is a 1930 Soviet-
Georgian silent
documentary film
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
directed by
Mikhail Kalatozov
Mikhail Konstantinovich Kalatozov ( ka, მიხეილ კალატოზიშვილი, ; 28 December 1903 – 26 March 1973), born Mikheil Kalatozishvili, was a Soviet film director of Georgians, Georgian origin who contributed to b ...
. As one of the earliest
ethnographic film
An ethnographic film is a non-fiction film, often similar to a documentary film, historically shot by Western filmmakers and dealing with non-Western people, and sometimes associated with anthropology. Definitions of the term are not definitive. ...
s, it documents the life of the
Svan people
, native_name =
, native_name_lang =
, image = File:Kartvelian languages.svg
, caption = Distribution of the Svan language in relation to other Kartvelian (South Caucasian) languages.
, population = –80,000 ...
in the isolated mountain village of
Ushguli
Ushguli ( ka, უშგული ) is a community of five medieval villages located at the head of the Enguri gorge in Svaneti, Georgia. Ushguli is one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. Compared to somewhat more develo ...
in
Svaneti
Svaneti (Svan language, Svan: შუ̂ან, ლემშუ̂ანიერა; ''shwan, lemshwaniera'', and Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia (country), Georg ...
a, in the northwestern part of the
Georgian Soviet Republic.
Synopsis

Most of ''Salt for Svanetia'' describes and explores the daily life of the
Svan people
, native_name =
, native_name_lang =
, image = File:Kartvelian languages.svg
, caption = Distribution of the Svan language in relation to other Kartvelian (South Caucasian) languages.
, population = –80,000 ...
, who are living isolated from civilisation in a harsh natural environment in the mountainous region of
Svaneti
Svaneti (Svan language, Svan: შუ̂ან, ლემშუ̂ანიერა; ''shwan, lemshwaniera'', and Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia (country), Georg ...
a. The film starts with the
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
quotation "Even now there are far reaches of the Soviet Union where the patriarchal way of life persists along with remnants of the clan system." Svanetia and the mountain village of
Ushguli
Ushguli ( ka, უშგული ) is a community of five medieval villages located at the head of the Enguri gorge in Svaneti, Georgia. Ushguli is one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. Compared to somewhat more develo ...
are then located on two slowly dissolving maps of the region and are described as "cut off from civilization by mountains and glaciers". The location of the village is further introduced by several expository shots showing the Svanetian landscape. These shots give some emphasis to tall towers (called
Svan towers and still visible in the 2006 photograph below). It explains that these have been constructed by villagers to serve as a defense against feudal overseers, and it shows how villagers have used them to fend off tax collectors by heaving rocks from the tower tops. This introductory focus on class conflict fades as the film moves to concentrate on the daily routine of the villagers. One sequence shows how sheep are raised, another how wool and yarn are produced, and another on how barley is threshed. These sequences powerfully convey the technological underdevelopment of the area. Wool spinning technique antedates the spinning wheel; barley is threshed by cattle dragging a stone studded platform, weighed down by a mother tending to her child, over the barley. Another scene shows a suspension bridge and a man trying to cross over rushing water as his pack animals resist. A desperate harvest during an early July snowstorm is shown. Other scenes show how the Svan people tailor their clothes, make hats, cut their hair and bury their dead.
The film then concentrates on the lack of salt supplies. Cut off from the outside world for most of the year, the village suffers from a shortage of salt. It is shown how this forces the animals to lick human sweat and urine. A party of workers, returning from migratory labor farther down the valley, are shown bringing salt back to the village. Most of them die when they are crushed by an avalanche. The solution to the salt shortage is presented in the climax of the film where the young Soviet power builds a road that connects the isolated region to the outside world. The film shows how teams of construction workers with their steamrollers arrive, cutting down a forest that is the last obstacle for the road that will connect the Svan people with Soviet civilisation.
Production
Svanetia
Svaneti ( Svan: შუ̂ან, ლემშუ̂ანიერა; ''shwan, lemshwaniera'', and Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia. Running along the Greater Cau ...
was an underdeveloped region, and thus Soviet planners tried to make it a showcase of Soviet modernization during the
first five-year plan First five-year plan may refer to:
* First five-year plan (China)
* First Five-Year Plans (Pakistan)
* First five-year plan (Soviet Union)
The first five-year plan (, ) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a list of economi ...
between 1928 and 1932. During this time roads were built, an air service was established and industries such as mining and lumbering were developed. It was against this background of Svanetia as a showcase of Soviet modernization that ''Salt for Svanetia'' was produced.
Inspired by a tour of the Caucasus, the writer and journalist
Sergei Tretyakov wrote a newspaper article that gave Kalatozov the idea for the film. Tretyakov then wrote a script for Kalatozov, and shooting began in the village of
Ushguli
Ushguli ( ka, უშგული ) is a community of five medieval villages located at the head of the Enguri gorge in Svaneti, Georgia. Ushguli is one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. Compared to somewhat more develo ...
in Upper Svanetia. Originally the film was planned to be a fictional feature film, but ultimately
Viktor Shklovsky
Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky ( rus, Ви́ктор Бори́сович Шкло́вский, p=ˈʂklofskʲɪj; – 6 December 1984) was a Russian and Soviet literary theorist, critic, writer, and pamphleteer. He is one of the major figures asso ...
edited the footage Kalatozov had shot in Svanetia into a documentary film.
The authenticity of some scenes has been disputed by the Svan people who deny that some of the customs shown have ever existed. The cinematography of
Mikhail Kalatozov
Mikhail Konstantinovich Kalatozov ( ka, მიხეილ კალატოზიშვილი, ; 28 December 1903 – 26 March 1973), born Mikheil Kalatozishvili, was a Soviet film director of Georgians, Georgian origin who contributed to b ...
and the cinematographer Shalva Gegelashvili has been described as
expressionistic due to its use of dramatic shadows, silhouettes against a dramatic skyline and
Dutch angle
In filmmaking and photography, the Dutch angle, also known as Dutch tilt, canted angle, vortex plane, or oblique angle, is a type of camera shot that involves setting the camera at an angle so that the shot is composed with vertical lines at an ...
s.
Responses
After the film was finished it was criticized by Stalinist authorities as being unbalanced and unfair towards Svanetia. It was claimed that the director was too fascinated by the backwardness and superstition of Svanetia, and only superficially interested in socialist modernization. Kalatozov fell out of favor, culminating in a ban of his next film ''
Nail in the Boot'' and a denunciation of his script on
Imam Shamil
Imam Shamil (; ; ; ; ; 26 June 1797 – 4 February 1871) was the political, military, and spiritual leader of North Caucasian resistance to Imperial Russia in the 1800s, the third Imam of the Caucasian Imamate (1840–1859), and a Sunni Muslim ...
.
Despite the negative immediate reaction, ''Salt for Svanetia'' has been praised by film historians and other film directors. The Russian film director
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (, ; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Russian origin. He is widely considered one of the greatest directors in cinema history. Works by Andrei Tarkovsky, His films e ...
called it an "amazing film". The American film historian
Jay Leyda described it as a "masterpiece" and "the most powerful documentary film I have ever seen".
Related
In 2015 the Scottish
klezmer
Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...
band
Moishe's Bagel created a CD soundtrack with the same name to accompany the film.
References
External links
*
* (English subtitles)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salt For Svanetia
1930 films
1930 documentary films
Black-and-white documentary films
Anthropology documentary films
Soviet silent feature films
Soviet documentary films
Soviet-era films from Georgia (country)
Films directed by Mikhail Kalatozov
Soviet black-and-white films
Documentary films from Georgia (country)
Svaneti