Salt for Svanetia: A movie about seasoning that feels like a fever dream

You should definitely watch this if you’re into history or just want to see something that looks totally different from a modern movie. It’s perfect for people who like striking visuals and don't mind a bit of 1930s grit. If you hate silent movies or get squeamish about animals, you might want to skip it though.

I honestly didn't think a movie about salt could be this stressful. It starts out looking like a normal travel video but quickly turns into something much darker and more frantic. 🏔️

The whole thing takes place in Svaneti, which is this super isolated part of Georgia with huge stone towers. The people there were so cut off that they didn't even have basic stuff like salt, which sounds small but is actually a nightmare.

There is this one scene where a dog is literally licking the sweat off a man's arm because it needs the salt so bad. It’s gross but you can’t look away. It makes you realize how much we take for granted when we just shake a little salt on our fries.

The director, Mikhail Kalatozov, uses these really weird, tilted camera angles. Everything feels like it’s about to fall over. It’s not smooth at all, and it’s definitely not a "peaceful" look at mountain life.

One part that really stuck with me was the funeral. They have these intense mourning rituals that feel almost scary. The way the women cry and move is so heavy. It reminded me a bit of the emotional weight in Mothers of France, but everything here is much more jagged and raw. ⛈️

The movie is technically Soviet propaganda, which becomes obvious toward the end. The first half is all about how miserable and backwards their old life was. Then the "new world" arrives to save them with a road and technology.

You can tell the filmmakers were trying to make the old traditions look bad, but they accidentally made them look fascinating. The towers and the way they build houses are incredible to look at even if the movie thinks they're "primitive."

There’s a lot of focus on the physical labor. People are constantly carrying huge rocks or working in the dirt. It feels like everyone in this movie is tired. The film has this bursty energy where it goes from slow shots of clouds to fast, crazy editing of people working. ⚒️

I noticed that the kids in the movie look like they’ve seen too much. There’s no playing or laughing; they just sort of exist in the background of the struggle. It’s a very uncomfortable watch at times.

The music (if you watch a version with a score) usually matches the frantic editing. It’s loud and repetitive. It really drives home the idea that life in the mountains was a constant battle against the rocks and the weather.

I wonder how much of it was staged. Some of the scenes feel a little too perfectly framed to be 100% natural. But even if it’s staged, the dirt and the sweat are very real. You can almost smell the mountain air and the animals through the screen. 🐐

It’s a short movie, barely an hour, but it feels much longer because so much happens in every frame. It’s not like Three Women where you’re following a clear narrative; it’s more like a series of punches to the gut.

The ending is a bit of a letdown because it turns into a commercial for road construction. After all that amazing, weird footage of the Svan people, seeing a bunch of tractors feels a little boring. But I guess that was the point back then.

Still, those images of the sheep licking the ground for salt stay with you. It’s a haunting little film. Even with the propaganda, there is something very human about the desperation for something as simple as salt.

Random things I noticed:

• The way they use wool to make clothes looks incredibly itchy.
• There's a shot of a baby that is honestly kind of heartbreaking.
• The mountain peaks look like teeth. 🦷
• The shadows in this movie are huge and black; they swallow up the characters.
• The title card about the "salt hunger" makes it sound like a zombie movie.

If you have an hour and want to see what life looked like in a place that time forgot, give it a spin. It’s better than most of the stuff you'll find on a random streaming scroll. Just don't expect a happy ending for everyone involved. 🎥

Kalatozov clearly knew what he was doing with a camera, even if he was being a bit of a show-off. It’s a messy masterpiece that doesn't care if you're comfortable or not.