At the time when the film Favourites of the Moon was released in France in 1985, little was known in western Europe about its Georgian director, Otar Iosseliani, who has died aged 89. He had already made three features and several shorts in the Soviet Union, where he had suffered some censorship, the prime reason for his becoming an exile in France in 1982. For many, Favourites of the Moon, shot in Paris in French, was their first entry into the singular world of Iosseliani.
His self-described “abstract comedies” are understated and incisive explorations of human absurdity, always faithful to his idiosyncratic vision, and discarding any kind of cohesive narrative. Iosseliani observed his characters through behaviour rather than dialogue. His use of sound and silence, and his complex movements of people, animals and objects made him the true heir to Jean Renoir, Jacques Tati and Luis Buñuel.
