KIND GENIUS

I asked my friends what was the first thing that pops up in their mind when they hear or pronounce the name of Rezo Gabriadze? Someone said it was the monument to Rabinovich (a fictional character of anecdotes, R+) in Odessa, Ukraine, someone immediately remembered the quotes from Mimino and Kin-dza-dza, someone enthusiastically praised the short films of the Soviet period, the uniqueness of the Tbilisi Puppet Theatre, described the original architectural appearance of the theatre invented by Batono Rezo himself, and so on. They say he was a regular of Не горюй! Cafe in old Tbilisi. He could easily start a chat with any visitor of the cafe, pleasing them with the joy of communication and the wisdom of simple yet ingenuous thoughts. To enjoy such conversations, some would often visit that part of old Tbilisi, where the puppet theatre has been living since 1981...

Rezo Gabriadze was born in Kutaisi, the capital of ancient Colchis. So, he would often say: "I am from Colchis." And there was no pride or arrogance in this statement, but there was a wise rethinking of belonging to a whole layer of common human history and culture.

Angel of Tbilisi

He passed on June 6, 2021. He ascended to the galactic space and dissolved in a myriad of stars. He probably can see from that distance everyone he left behind, and everything he loved: his people, his city, his theatre, his life. His departure caused a great resonance in the post-Soviet space and, of course, in Azerbaijan. Not only the former citizens of the USSR but also those who are a little over 20 know and love his works. The reaction of numerous admirers of Gabriadze’s talent literally blew up the media and social networks. Although Maestro himself argued that talent is a myth that we made up to justify our laziness. And in the core of success, he said, is the hard and efficient work of a person. Therefore, we have to work. To work a lot. He left his will to his son Leo. And to all of us.

Viktoria Tokareva, writer and screenwriter, said in her interview with the Zvezda Weekly: “He was an absolutely brilliant person. A humble genius with intelligent eyes. A genius living among us. I realised this when I saw his animated film Do you know where I were, Mom? A person like him can only do brilliant things.”

Andrey Plakhov, a film critic, wrote on Facebook: “In fact, he was a spiritual leader of the Georgian new wave. In the 1960s-1970s, cinema in Georgia became a matter of national prestige, and it had a world-wide reputation as an ‘island of antiquity and the Renaissance’ – this is how they would describe the attitude and style of the authors of the Georgian film school, including Rezo Gabriadze with his Renaissance spirit as one of the founding fathers of this school...”

Salome Zurabishvili, President of Georgia, made an official statement, saying that Georgian culture suffered a great loss after the death of the artist, screenwriter and director Rezo Gabriadze. "We have become poorer, we have become orphans," she said.

On June 29, Master Gabriadze, known among the Americans as the National Treasure of Georgia, and among the French as the Angel of Tbilisi, would have turned 85 years old...

Do you know where I were, Mom?

On that day, Baku hosted a special evening to remember Rezo Gabriadze with the support of the Russian Embassy to Azerbaijan and the Russian House in Baku. Author of the idea, organizer and host was Vafa Mammadova. She called the evening the same as she called her film about Leo Gabriadze's father - Do you know where I were, Mom? And for almost two hours, the audience, together with the presenter, recalled the "humble genius with intelligent eyes" as a wizard who knew how to turn ordinary life into a fairy tale, where everything was subject to the will of a wizard who was born in Kutaisi and who managed to escape from the loneliness of his wartime childhood into a world called Art. Yet he kept the memory and love of his ‘lonely’ days, and created many unforgettable masterpieces. In particular, the text and drawings for the film, which became the story of Rezo Gabriadze’s own family. Do you know where I were, Mom? This funny song performed by Rezo sounds in the end of the film was conceived as the author’s confession but sounded like a requiem.

That’s how in simple and uncomplicated words did the artist narrate a story of his perception of the world when he was a child. And all these stories from his childhood, young and old years well fit into an original canvas of fantasy about how the 10-year-old Rezo were friends with Lenin and Stalin, how he chatted with the Frog, how he was expelled from the class for being late and learned science with the Rat in library no. 6, and so on. It took Gabriadze's son Leo a very long time to make the film piece by piece, to put the plot puzzle together in a real action. Besides Leo standing behind the camera in the studio, there were always his friends – those to whom Rezo would tell his childhood fantasies, accompanying his narrative with pieces from his memory. This was an atmosphere of trustful storytelling. For Leo as a director, it was very important, since his father’s biographical story was not read from the paper, because Rezo would never agree to act in the film as an actor. He only knew how to be a talented an unique storyteller. It was supposed to be an improvisational story. And so it happened. In his interview with the Yekaterinburg TV channel, Leo Gabriadze defined the genre of the film as follows: “It's a growing up movie. The narrative is accompanied with computer animation depicting Rezo’s life stories and drawings. Cartoon is the preservation of family history. Each family should have its own mythology: who they are and where they are from. Otherwise, everything is meaningless.”

The film was released in 2018. But only few people, who came to honour the memory of Rezo Gabriadze that evening, saw it. There was no drama in the atmosphere of the evening, but there was light sadness and a feeling that “a genius Georgian with intelligent eyes” was also in the hall on June 29, on his own birthday. And he was absolutely sincere and childishly trustful revealing to us his own secrets of being. Everyone needed him that evening. Because he knew, as a rightful wizard, what to do in order to preserve humaneness and remain a Human...

Rezo Gabriadze and Baku

Not everyone knows that during the filming of Kin-dza-dza (directed by Georgy Danelia), which took place in the Karakum desert near the city of Nebit-Dag (Turkmenistan), Rezo Gabriadze often visited Baku. Numerous myths and fancy stories accompanied the film from the very first days of shooting. A very popular myth was that angry aliens were monitoring the filming process and doing harm in every possible way: they would either snatch away the pepelats, or spoil the costumes, or scare the patsaks, or prevent the free movement of Gabriadze somewhere between Tbilisi and Nebit-Dag. This “somewhere” was the city of Baku, which Rezo Gabriadze used as a transit city to visit the filming scene in Turkmenistan. Back in 1985, everything was much more prosaic and simpler. Once in Baku, Gabriadze had to take a flight to Turkmenistan. But again, this was going on back in 1985! No cell phones yet, no Internet, no computers... But there was a concept of friendship and mutual assistance.

Mabud Maharramov, People's Artist of Azerbaijan:

“At that time, I worked at the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan and I was instructed to take care of this wonderful, kind, and talented person named Rezo Gabriadze. It was difficult times back in the day: there were very few hotels, flight tickets were rare to find, and so on. It was almost impossible to buy or book a ticket for an Aeroflot flight on time. I had to use all my charm and connections to solve the problems with a flight ticket and the hotel. Of course, I did not realise then what kind of a genius I was assisting to and could easily communicate with. We often discussed such situations together, and I remember how Rezo, being a very modest and delicate person, felt embarrassed that I had to show all my abilities to get him a flight ticket, let alone acting sometimes. Sometimes it was like a one-man theatre. Once Rezo was watching all this and said to the lady in the ticket booth: “Don’t you feel sorry for Mabud?” Another time, when we were waiting in the airport’s lobby before Rezo’s departure, he took a pen and a sheet of some not very high-quality paper, and said: "Sit down, I'll draw your portrait." This is how this portrait appeared with an inscription in Georgian, which, as you understand, was also left by Rezo Gabriadze.”

There was a young and cocky-looking version of Mabud looking from the portrait. Mabud of 1985! And the inscription under the image read: "Rustam Ibrahimbeyov's assistant Mabud Maharramov and my assistant in Baku, who helped me find tickets for his theatrical performances…", equating Mabud’s actions with his performance on the stage!

Tarlan Gorchu, Director of the Marionetka Theatre in Baku:

“I never played with toys when I was a child. I don’t remember why, but that’s how it was. I could not have imagined that at the age of 32 my life would turn so dramatically that it would forever connect me with the world of dolls, puppets. In 1985, when we were staging the play Dede Gorgud in our theatre, I visited Tbilisi with a group of my colleagues to take part in the International Festival of Puppet Shows. This was my very first and happiest trip outside the country. Because it gave me the joy of experiencing creative friendship with Rezo Gabriadze, the joy of re-discovering a puppet professionally. Until that moment, I did not know about its existence. In the lobby of the theatre, where we were supposed to do the play, I put my sketches of costumes on display. Rezo was extremely interested in them, and he asked to present him two of them as a gift. I shouldn't have done that, because the sketches were the property of the Ministry of Culture. Yet I gave him a sketch of Basat's costume. It was late autumn and it was raining in Tbilisi. I had a cold and was sitting in the lobby waiting for the end of the performance. Suddenly they came and called me to the stage. They said that Rezo Gabriadze was waiting for me there. The only thing I knew about him at that moment that Rezo was the chairman of the jury. On the stage, I saw a charming person with a kind smile. He hugged me tightly and said that this was the first performance at the festival that he liked. Next morning he took me to Kutaisi for a barbecue, although I was completely upset because of a cold. On our way to Kutaisi, he asked me what my favourite play was. I said that it was Weidler’s Our town. He said it was his favourite play too. He liked it so much that he even translated it into Georgian. Then he asked what kind of painting I liked, and I replied that it was the Kajar style. Rezo was even more surprised and said that he used the same technique in his own works. Later I found out that it was true. And when we found ourselves in his theatre, I was overwhelmed by a sense of professional delight: I had never seen anything like that before. It was either a theatre, or a junk shop, or an antique shop, or an artist's workshop! But it was so unusual and so exciting that then, decades later, during the reconstruction of our puppet theatre, I kept that ambience in my head, returning to those feelings continuously. Rezo sat me down in the centre of the hall, and I began understanding this endless magic of the puppet's influence on human perception. Perhaps then I realised that from now on I would be working with puppets. I was upset that Rezo could not visit us in 2016 for the opening of our theatre and for the premiere. This is the strongest and greatest regret in the entire history of friendship with Rezo Gabriadze. He wasn't feeling very well anymore. That’s why he could not come. We have enjoyed the years of creative friendship. In the mid-80s, he made me a fantastic offer - to stage a play in his theatre, Arshin Mal Alan. We started working together. He would often come to Baku and I frequented to Tbilisi. Unfortunately, our joint project has never made it to the premiere in Tbilisi. But that's a completely different story. Rezo gave me not only a puppet as a form of theatrical art, but also people who became my real friends. We are still friends with Tengiz Khalvashi, who still works in his theatre.”

We could compile an entire volume of Tarlan Gorchu’s memories and stories about the "wizard with intelligent eyes". Every detail, every moment of the past years in contact with Rezo Gabriadze seems important to him. There was nothing secondary in their friendship. And so Rezo left this world. Master. Artist. Human. Genius. What remains to us is endless sadness that it is possible to live everything anew only in memories.

Epilogue

What can the Master see from heavens? President of Georgia said that the country became orphaned after Rezo left. I think that the whole humanity should feel like an orphan now. One less genius who radiated the light of Love and Goodness. How does the theatre live? We ask this question to the Doctor of Art History, Director of the Research Centre for Contemporary Theatre, Professor of the Shota Rustaveli Georgian State University of Theatre and Cinema, Lashe Chkhartishvili:

“It is still difficult to realise that Rezo is no longer with us. It is difficult to come to terms with the idea that he will no longer enter his own theatre, will not be seen in the nearby cafe with new details of decorations and so on. We need some time. As to the theatre... it will remember the Master: his precepts, his lessons, his advice. And it will keep the bar of artistic creativity at a high professional level. There is no other way. He left, but his students remain: his actors, artists and director Natia Tsiklauri. There is a repertoire, there is the interest of the audience and... life.”

And I suddenly remembered what Rezo replied to Pozner, when the latter asks his traditional question at the end of his interviews: "What will you say to God when you appear before him?" Rezo said “Nothing. What can I tell him? He already knows everything…” But I imagined a completely different picture, where Rezo draws his own sketch in the costume of a musketeer, who takes off his hat and says: “I'm from Colchis!”