BLUE MOUNTAINS

Every time I watch BLUE MOUNTAINS I'm amazed by how contemporary it feels. On paper it's a comedy about a publishing house. In practice it's one of the funniest films ever made about a bureaucracy that has completely forgotten its purpose.

The story begins when a writer submits a manuscript called Blue Mountains. What should be a simple publishing decision turns into an endless bureaucratic nightmare. Editors misplace the manuscript. Meetings are held. Committees are formed. People discuss the book without reading it. Others promise to read it and never do. Entire departments seem to exist purely to delay decisions. The manuscript drifts from desk to desk while everyone remains busy doing almost everything except their actual jobs.

What I love about the film is that Shengelaia never treats the situation as extraordinary. Nobody behaves as though anything is wrong. The absurdity emerges from how normal everyone finds it. The publishing house becomes its own self-sustaining ecosystem where process has entirely replaced purpose.

Although it was made during the Soviet era, the film feels less like political satire than a universal comedy about group think and decision making by committee. Anyone who has worked in a large organisation, dealt with endless administration, or waited weeks for a reply that should have taken five minutes will recognise the world immediately.

I'm also familiar with many of the locations where BLUE MOUNTAINS was shot. If you'd like to know where they are, ask me when you come to see the film.