Contrasting visions and perspectives of modern-day Armenia are played out in 5 Dreamers and a Horse with the film focussing on four protagonists as they aspire to fulfil their very different dreams. There is also – as the enigmatic title suggests – a horse…but in truth it plays a minor role in proceedings.
The title is playfully elusive. The fifth ‘dreamer’ is never really revealed and is ambiguous at best, and while that horse pops up briefly at the start of the film, its part is minimal and simply hints at a sense of openness and freedom that seems vague and perhaps unattainable to the four people who form the focus of the film.
And while co-directors Aren Malakyan and Vahagn Khachatryan’s film perhaps tries too hard in terms of its subtexts there is no denying that it offers a fascinating – and often gently amusing – glimpse into the lives and frustrations of four very different people. Beautifully framed and consistent in tone and style (and with impressive sound design) it is an engaging film that also hints at worries to come during its climax.
The film opens with a pure white screen that slowly dissolves into a snowy landscape as a lone horseman rides bareback towards the camera. This is Karen, a lanky farmer who – it later turns out – is in search of the perfect wife. He talks to a medium who reads tea leaves and who tells him that there will be money issues, that he will get good news from relatives and that the name of his future spouse begins with the letter Q.
Another story strand (and the one that offers most amusement) follows genial hospital lift operator Melanya, whose work feels like a kind of remnant of urban Sovietism, and whose dream is to travel into space. She ends up calling the Amateur Astronauts Training Centre and wants to come to sessions. She admits to being aged 64, ”But I am very healthy and I go to the gym…I think nothing will happen. I am as healthy as an elephant.”
Meanwhile, up on a rooftop with a striking view over mountains are friends (and maybe more than friends) Amasia and Sona, two women who chat, flirt, hug and eventually take part in an underground music performance. They are resolutely anti-establishment and playful but also angry about how they are treated by authorities.
The film flits between the three story strands. Melanya is in control of her lift, determining who boards and where they should stand, though also annoys one doctor who complains he has been waiting for far too long while she was holding the lift for a cleaner friend. Karen seeks help from a middleman to find a wife; heads into town to seek out a prostitute and eventually finds a shy woman to marry. Though in one cross-over moment he goes to the hospital (and use Melanya’s lift) when he thinks he may be having sperm issues. Meanwhile Amasia and Sona continue to hang out on roofs and chat playfully.
The film ends, somewhat enigmatically, with CCTV footage of explosions followed by ambiguous overhead images of a crowd gathered on a public square. Is it the beginning conflict or mourning? And quite who the fifth dreamer is…well, it remains unclear.
Armenia-Germany-Switzerland-Denmark-Georgia, 2022, 80mins
Dirs: Aren Malakyan & Vahagn Khachatryan
Production: Color of May, OOlik Production
International sales: OOlik Production
Producers: Eva Blondiau, Vahagn Khachatryan
Cinematography: Vahagn Khachatryan, Aren Malakyan, Andranik Sahakyan
Editor: Federico Delpero Bejar
Music: Rafael Tunyan
With: Karen Zurnadjyan, Melania Davtyan, Sona Khachatryan, Amasia Niziblyan
