He is just as difficult to navigate as the world he has created his lies, whims and inappropriate emotions spill out of his every pore. The citizens don’t understand, and Varlam doesn’t understand why they don’t understand.
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Varlam’s police force are knights in full plate mail, for instance, and large-scale science experiments reminiscent of American sci-fi flicks of the 1950s are being conducted inside the town’s church. Everything we see in Repentance is plausible, in that it could happen - the laws of time and space are never broken - but are so outlandish that one can’t trust reality. These absurd moments, which range from implausible to completely insane, give the viewer the very real sensation of dealing with someone who has lost their grip on reality. Many images lightly touch on the surreal nightmares are indistinguishable from the absurdities of the very real political climate. There are scenes of great beauty in Abuladze’s film, tragic moments set amongst lovely gardens and within large, Gothic homes. What had started as an almost charming political satire, complete with broad characters and slapstick situations, becomes a melancholy tale during the flashback to Varlam’s reign. As she stands trial, she promises repeatedly that she will never let Varlam rest, not while she is alive. Ketevan has been arrested for desecrating his corpse, and as we see in flashback during the trial, Varlam was responsible for the persecution of her parents now, every night, she digs the man up and leans him against a tree in Abel’s yard.
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But he was responsible for a series of atrocities against his people, and it’s these atrocities that have lead him now, decades later, to become a mouldering symbol of a past that Ketevan Barateli (Zeinab Botsvadze) doesn’t want anyone to forget. Jolly, rosy-cheeked and charismatic, Varlam is educated and kind, and even those who fear him love him. Physically, he is an amalgam of some of the most infamous dictators of recent history, sporting Hitler’s moustache, Stalin’s hair and Mussolini’s fashion sense. In 1988, it was finally shown in Soviet theaters and in large markets around the world, earning positive reviews and comparisons to the works of Andrei Tarkovsky and Luis Buñuel.Īt the center of Repentance is the esteemed Varlam. Completed in 1984, Repentance had initially been banned by the Soviet Union, and did not see release until its premiere at Cannes in 1987. Mixing surrealism with broad humor and poignant scenes, Repentance would become one of the most visible examples of the Soviet Union relaxing their censorship policies during perestroika and glasnost. Thus begins the opening act of Repentance, Tengiz Abuladze’s blistering anti-Stalinist satire. Mixing surrealism with broad humor and poignant scenes, Repentance would become one of the most visible examples of the Soviet Union relaxing their censorship policies during perestroika and glasnost. The poor guy just won’t stay buried, and eventually the police take an interest in the situation, arresting the corpse and taking him down to the station protocol must be followed, after all. After causing a bit of a stir, Varlam’s dusty, stiff body is reburied that evening, but reappears the next morning.
The day after his burial, however, Varlam returns, still dead, but propped up in the garden of his son Abel (also played by Makharadze).
His passing is met with tears and solemn songs in praise of the dead. Varlam Aravidze (Avtandil Makharadze), the former mayor of a small town in Soviet Georgia, has died.
For more information on this TIFF film series visit follow TIFF on Twitter at TIFF_NET. Cast: Avtandil Makharadze, Ia Ninidze, Zeinab Botsvadze Director: Tengiz Abuladze Country: Soviet Union Genre: Comedy | Drama Websites: TIFFĮditor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage for TIFF’s Discovering Georgian Cinema which runs until April 19th.
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