Corn Island

2014

1h 40m

Drama

List

80%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

84%

Audience Score

100+ Ratings

A river creates and destroys in an eternal cycle.

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Erik McClanahan

Minneapolis Star Tribune

It feels unfinished, and unnecessarily padded by melodramatic plot developments and some strange, creepy exploitation of its young actress.

Rated: 2/4

Apr 9, 2015

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Peter Debruge

Variety

An astonishing feat of cinema presented with the utmost modesty ...

Jul 14, 2014

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Hannah Brown

Jerusalem Post

It is an achingly beautiful, flawlessly acted and carefully plotted story of the fight against nature and evil for survival.

Mar 21, 2016

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Russell Edwards

sbs.com.au

The beautiful images -- much of the time unsullied by anything as manipulative as music -- are enough to rivet the eye and lead the viewer slowly from scene to scene.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 6, 2015

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Jamie S. Rich

Oregonian

"Corn Island" may be small in scope, but its impact is large.

Rated: A

Feb 4, 2015

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raphael g

Beautiful images. I love that there almost were no dialogues. When there were though, they felt almost invasive. I read a "top critic" criticizing a supposed exploitation of the very young girl's sexuality. But I saw it more as showing the reality of how things are, perhaps in that region. I don't think the movie was trying to say it was right or wrong, only that it was as it was. The soundtrack could've been slightly better produced, but it wasn't bad. The ending was heartbreaking in a very beautiful way.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

A granddad and his granddaughter are making sure that the family get enough crops for winter. They are padling around in a boat, looking for islands that has risen above the river. This way the ground is rich and fertile so the harvest is as rewarding as possible. The setting is somewhere in Georgia, soliders are passing by on a daily basis and they observe what they do. Nothing wrong about that, but when the island get's populated by some mysteriousness, things get's a bit more lifted. The setting is superb - a small sand island, slowly housing two people as they build a house along with the corn field. The amazing shooting, cameras circling around the island, distant shots, closeups - almost claustrophopic within the small cabin - field shots, nature shots. It's always simplistic, but very effective. It's like a quiet meditation with a perfect pace. It's slow, but there is actually many hightlights here, not to mention the emotions. Impressive, since it's basicly two people, that rearly share a conversation, whom is farming a tiny field. I can't help to compare it with Johnny Castaway - the epic screensaver that killed many of my younger hours. A minimalistic masterpiece, a poetic ride with much depth and emotion. Not hard to digest and easy to get. Since it's less demanding as many similiar films and very rewarding, it's a film for a wider audience than it's actually aim for. Truly a beautiful film, that I finally saw after years on my watchlist. 9 out of 10 ragdolls.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Audience Member

An almost minimalist work of art about the struggle of man against nature and himself.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

Maybe the best film of 21th century Georgian cinema. I like it's minimalism and beautiful images. when you are watching corn island, you are part of it's smooth rhythm. And not only beauty film has strong idea. It 's life, It 's fight and it's meaning of life

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

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Audience Member

This beautiful and nearly silent minimalist film feels like a true definition of the Art of visual poetry, as it tells a simple yet deeply resonant story that doesn't need words to express what it wants, relying on a gorgeous cinematography and Ilyas Salman in a fantastic performance.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

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Audience Member

Espoo Cine 2015- 9/10 The other film with an island in it that is in the winning class of this festival marathon. The entire film has no more than 20 spoken lines and it takes place on a temporary island in the middle of a river between georgia and the akhbazian held area. Girgeous scenery and an interesting story with a very sad end. All the time I was expecting violence and snatching a bride by some soldiers but all that happened was corn growing and river running around it! TO NOTE: it migt not be wise to build a house and grow crops on a temporary island. Not at all.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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George Ovashvili

Director

Ilyas Salman

Old Man

Mariam Buturishvili

Girl

Tamer Levent

Abkhazian Officer

Ylias Salman

Old Man

Roelof Jan Minneboo

Screenwriter

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Synopsis

A river creates and destroys in an eternal cycle.

Director: George Ovashvili
Screenwriter: Roelof Jan Minneboo, George Ovashvili, Nugzar Shataidze
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Russian
Runtime: 1h 40m