Once Upon a Time There Was a Singing Blackbird depicts 36 hours in the life of the young musician Gia, who plays the drums in the Tbilisi orchestra, and is defined as much by his friendliness as his frequent lateness.

All the joyful, raucous vitality of the Georgian capital is realized in Once Upon a Time There Was a Singing Blackbird, a treasure of twentieth-century cinema. Following the comings and goings of a handsome dreamer with roguish charm, director Otar Iosseliani embraces the pleasure of the picaresque.