Le repentir

A striking (and politically astonishing for it's day) act of self-examination, self-criticism and ultimately self-laceration of a film made in the Soviet Union.

This is a darkly funny, playfully surrealistic, scathing satire of the Stalinist era's turning the entire population of an empire into suspects to be jailed, exiled and eliminated at whim. Full of striking images and strong performances.

Told in flashback, it starts from the death of a seemingly beloved small town mayor who we come to learn played the role of a local Stalin. Likable and even playful on the surface, the more we see his ever growing darkness the more disturbing the film becomes, as he ever more readily destroys those who might be enemies, or are simply inconvenient.

This flashback tale is framed by watching his family, after his death, trying to deal with their own feelings of and denials of guilt, as a local woman, her life ruined by the mayor, stands trial for repeatedly digging up his corpse again and again.

Far from a perfect film, some of the surrealistic imagery works better than others, and some twists seem a bit like 'easy' explanations of complex behavior, but this is still a fascinating, challenging and unique film about one of the great horrors of the last century. And an effective cautionary tale about the power of a paranoid state.

This wonderful Georgian film emerged from the last years of the Soviet regime, but seems to have disappeared without trace. The final film of a trilogy by the veteran film-maker Tengiz Abuladze, it portrays a composite monster, Varlam (Hitler moustache, Mussolini shirt & braces, Stalin boots, Beria pince-nez) and his equally grotesque son Abel, both played by the same actor.

The film has a surrealist, dreamlike quality about it, framed by initial and final scenes in a cake-shop and with police almost comic in medieval armour. The main actions which initiate the plot are surrealist with the repeated exhumation of Varlam's corpse. The two monstrous central characters are no more than mayors of a small Georgian town - but there is nothing comic about their actions and the reign of terror they bring to the community. The elements of tyranny are revealed economically, with hints of atrocities and disappearances but only one brief torture scene. The overall message is that of personal responsibility. The tyrannical regime is not an anonymous bureaucracy but the deliberate creation of evil men. And the final repentance is a horrific recognition of those responsibilities. An unmissable film, beautifully made and superbly acted - if you can find it.

For the first time I've seen this movie in 1988 under, rotting and toothless, but still red regime in little movie in Bytom, Poland. Without subtitles but only with man reading the dialogs from the book. Atmosphere was tensed and with the taste of conspiracy. This time Pokajanije was for me thrilling experience with breathtaking performance of Macharadze and Ninidze. Once again I watched it in TV few years later and I've found a little dated and emasculated in uncovering communist's crimes. But still it was great cinematic, beautifully filmed experience. Now, I've ordered DVD in dvdplanet (it's still unavailable in Poland) and I'm really curious for my nowadays impression.

25 dec 2004

Today I've watched the movie once again after the reading of Montefiore's book "Stalin - the court of the Red Tsar. In this book I've found the story of Kawtaradze family. Sergo Kawtaradze, old revolutionist and comrade of Stalin during the great purge, in 1936 was arrested with his wife Sofia. Both were cruelly tortured in Lubianka. Daughter Maya, 11 years old, wrote many letters to Stalin, begging for the parents' life. After 3 years of imprisonment Kawtaradzes were freed but still in danger of arresting again. Few weeks later suddenly at 6 AM Stalin & Beria came to Kawtaradzes. Stalin kindly spoke with daughter Maya. In her memories she wrote that he was charming and kind. He also sang a song with "pleasant tenor". They also ate dinner (Stalin ordered it in the best georgian restaurant in Moscow, Aragwi. I'm sure that episode in the movie when Warlam and Doxopulo visits Sandro's home is loosely based on this event

A witty, offbeat, surreal, and dark satire from Georgian director Tengiz Abuladze which is the final in his Trilogy. The film opens with newspaper obituary recording of the passing of the dictator Varlam Aravidze, the mayor of a town in Georgia with a Hitler moustache, Mussolini shirt & braces, Stalin boots, Beria pince-nez). The film shifts from a courtroom drama with multiple flashbacks and surreal imageries supported with nightmarish allusion to Stalin's terror and a highlight of perestroika. It captures Varlam's rise to power and we are introduced to a surreal world where all logic takes place through the 'conscious' of this man and the deteriorating political circumstances around him. A bold film, a critique of Stalinism in Soviet history appreciating cultural values and my favourite film by T. Abuladze. Must been seen by all cinema lovers.

After the death of Stalin, folks in the Soviet Union were allowed to express their feelings towards his reign of terror...at least to a point. However, the government also was concerned that these complaints might lead to complaints about the current system--and this is probably why "Repentance" was banned for several years after it was filmed. It does attack the Stalinist era and mentality--but apparently those in power at the time weren't willing to allow such a film to be released.

"Repentance" is a very surreal sort of film--one which has many story elements that seem dreamy and unreal while the rest of it is quite literal. While there were purges, seeing the 20th century purges carried out by knights in armor, a living statue of Justice and many other story elements are dream-like and strange. This is not really a complaint--just an observation. The film looks almost like Dalí or Buñuel added a few touches here and there...just a few.

The story begins in the present day. The beloved mayor of a Georgian town, Varlem, has died and folks come to his funeral to pay their respects. However, several times after the funeral, the body of this man has been taken from the crypt and placed in his yard! After the third time, they catch the woman responsible and she is taken into custody. At the hearing, she openly admits having done it and tells a story of long ago--when Varlem first became mayor. At that time, he made a name for himself persecuting the innocent--and the story is about how this impacted the woman personally.

Following her long tale, the story goes to the present day. The hypocrisy and evil of Valem's friends are examined as well--including one case about a man who struggles between Atheism and Christianity. Under Christianity, he SHOULD feel guilt--and he ultimately gets to meet the Devil (this is pretty weird...and clever). Other folks all begin to confront their own part in Varlem's reign of terror.

Instead of this film directly attacking Stalinism, it clearly attacks these tactics on a smaller scale. And, I am sure it was not unintentional that Varlem looked much like a bloated Hitler! A very strange but daring film. While today it might be seen as very tame, back in the mid-1980s it must have caused the filmmakers a lot of problems--and potentially prison. Quite clever but quite slow and strange. Well worth seeing--especially if you lived through this era.