AFI FEST 2020: Should the Wind Drop
afi fest 2020Nora Martirosyan's feature directorial debut Should the Wind Drop is an undeniably audacious debut feature as the film aims to capture not the perspective of just one individual but the soul of an entire country. Jumping between the story of an auditor named Alain (Grégoire Colin), who has come a small self-proclaimed republic in the Caucasus to inspect a new airport, and the story of a young boy named Edgar (Hayk Bakhryan), who uses the airport as a shortcut on his daily journey to sell water, the film slowly starts to reveal various nuances and depths that are impactful even if the film as a large fails to capitalise and use these ideas to their fullest.
The largest source of intrigue within the film comes from the perspective of Alain. What starts as a rudimentary audit of a newly built airport starts to take on a deeper context as various pressures start to creep onto Alain as he starts to find issues with the construction that could prevent the airport from being opened. It is within this drama that the film begins to find its conversation regarding the identity of a nation and how crucial global validation can be. This airport isn't just for convenience, it is undeniable proof that this country exists and allows the people and their efforts to be respected on a global scale. Not only is this important for those in the community currently but it is important for those who had fallen in the violence that led to their freedom. This is a justification for this republic's past tragedy and pain – to fail this inspection and fail to take the next step would be a spit in the faces of those who gave their lives for the cause. This weight feels real and heavy. It also makes the character of Alain all the more interesting. The film doesn't give any easy answers; does he acknowledge the objective flaws and deny them the airport that they have worked so hard to build or does he ignore the small errors and allow them to take the next step that they are desperately fighting for? It is emotional and incredibly powerful yet also, sadly, it isn't the sole focus of the film.
Should the Wind Drop splits its 100-minute runtime between this emotionally taxing and rewarding plot with the story of Edgar as already mentioned. Whilst Edgar's story has its own powerful emotions, it feels overall more like a distraction than anything else. The film has rather poor time management as it jumps between the stories and it became clear early on that whenever the film decided to focus on Edgar, the audience would want to be back with Alain as quickly as possible. This switching focus takes its toll mainly on the pacing of the film. Where there is an incredible 80-minute feature within this film following the moral debate that Alain has to interact with, the extra bit with Edgar continually slows the film down and ends up making the overall product more boring and hard to sit through than it should be.
Ultimately, though the emotional core of Should the Wind Drop is one filled with nuance and unique inspiration, the pacing and actual structure of the film does it no favors. What could have been a focused and captivating feature turns into a bloated and confused picture that fails to capitalize on the strong thesis that it has buried within itself. Whilst the flaws are not enough to completely extinguish the fire within the film, it undeniably calms the flame and makes the film surprisingly forgettable overall for the highs it is able to achieve at times.
