Favourites of the Moon

Otar Iosseliani's films are like huge patchworks sewed out of minute urban scenes. The title of this movie is based on Falstaff's remark from the play King Henry IV by William Shakespeare: "Let not us that are squires of the night's body be called thieves of the day's beauty: let us be Diana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the Moon." Favourites of the Moon is a quilt of underworld activities and associations of the criminal world with the world ordinary. This splendid comedy is permeated with delicate irony and it shows so many curious aspects of city life. Otar Iosseliani is one in the top dozen of my most favourite directors.