Blue Mountains, or Unbelievable Story (1983)

directed by Eldar Shengelaia
Georgia
97 minutes
3.5 stars out of 5
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The beginning and end of my reason for watching Blue Mountains (or Unbelievable Story) is because it's from Georgia and I like Georgia a lot. I'm not inclined to watch comedy movies voluntarily, though, because the majority of them tend to feel forced to me, so I'm glad this one turned out good.

Blue Mountains uses a style of comedy that's recognizable in any locale. The cast of characters each have their specific action that they do, and they're all defined by it, more or less: The guy who keeps complaining about people playing sports outside. The spacey old guy who doesn't really realize he's barging in on people and just wants to get his book published. The cute secretary. The old lady. Everybody's basically a cliche, but they're all played well and it doesn't feel forced or awkward.

The main character also has his defining traits and it's after the book he's trying to get published that the movie is named, but he's just about as big a factor in the movie as anybody else is, which is to say not too much. We don't get any backstory on him, we don't see where he lives or anybody close to him, we just see him being this trod-upon character who's constantly having his desires passed over by everybody else because they're all involved in their own lives. I did feel like the characterization left something to be desired, not just of the MC but of everyone, but due to the ensemble-ish nature of the whole thing, I guess that was to be expected. I would recommend it more to somebody who's used to British-style comedy though because it does get to be a bit bland after a while and I personally am accustomed to quicker-paced humor. Most of the gags come from things the characters do in the background that go unspoken but are still always there.

There's a couple of interesting motifs that are used as well- The motorcyclists outside keep on playing and the grapes on the balcony keep on growing; despite how hectic life inside the apartment block is, life outside continues to go on. And it takes a page from Zazie dans le métro (and several other films) and comes to a close with the destruction of the apartment building due to the actions of builders dynamiting out a subway tunnel under it, which is another thing representing progress being underway while the inhabitants of the building get caught up in their own flurry of activity.