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Encyclopedia
Repentance is a Georgian film directed by Tengiz Abuladze
. The movie was made in 1984, but its release was banned in the Soviet Union for its semi-allegorical critique of Stalinism
. It premiered at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival
, winning the FIPRESCI
Prize, Grand Prize of the Jury
, and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
.
) has died. One day after the funeral the corpse of the mayor turns up in the garden of his son's house. The corpse is reburied, only to reappear again in the garden. A woman, Ketevan Barateli (Zeinab Botsvadze), is eventually arrested and accused of digging up the corpse. She defends herself and states that Varlam does not deserve to be buried as he was responsible for a Stalin-like regime of terror responsible for the disappearance of her parents and her friends. She is put on trial and gives her testimony, with the story of Varlam's regime being told in flashbacks.
During the trial, whereas Varlam's son Abel (Avtandil Makharadze
) denies any wrongdoings by his father and his lawyer tries to get Ketevan declared insane. Varlam's grandson Tornike (Merab Ninidze
) is shocked by the reveleations about the crimes of his grandfather. He ultimately commits suicide. Abel himself then throws Varlam's corpse off a cliff on the outskirts of the town.
At the end the film returns to the scene of the woman preparing a cake. An old woman is asking her at the window whether this is the road that leads to the church. The woman replies that the road is Varlam street and will not lead to the church. The old woman replies: "What good is a road if it doesn't lead to a church?".
who at that time was the first secretary of the Georgian Communist Party
and who offered a special and uncensored slot on Georgian television for the film. During the shooting of the film the actor Georgi Kobakhidze was arrested for being involved in the hijacking of Aeroflot Flight 6833. Production was temporarily halted, and was resumed several months later with Mirab Ninidze replacing Kobakhidze. The movie itself details the false denunciations, forced imprisonment, and the burning of Christian churches - the very acts that earned the Soviet KGB its reputation for cruelty, especially against the Christian faith. It is estimated 42,000 Christian pastors/priests lost their lives, and their numbers declined from 380,000 to 172! A thousand monasteries, sixty seminaries, and ninety-eight of every hundred Orthodox churches were shuttered as portrayed in this film.
the film was released again all over the Soviet Union and at film festival in Western countries. Abuladze was awarded the Order of Lenin
and he accompanied Gorbachev on his first official visit in New York in 1988.
Repentance was broadcasted by ZDF
on 13 October 1987. The broadcast was received and widely seen in East Germany where the film was banned. East German television viewers reacted strongly as they saw parallels to their own regime. This reaction forced East German authorities and the East German press to react. Harald Wessel, second editor in chief of Neues Deutschland
and the editor in chief of the Junge Welt
, Hans-Dieter Schütt published editorials in their newspapers that tried to both denounce the film and to avoid anti-soviet undertones. The situation was complicated by the fact that the editorials were for a film that was banned and should theoretically be unknown to East German readers.
Tengiz Abuladze
Tengiz Abuladze was a Georgian film director.Abuladze studied theatre direction at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre Institute, Tbilisi, Georgia, and filmmaking at the VGIK in Moscow. He graduated VGIK in 1952 and in 1953 he joined Gruziya-film as a director...
. The movie was made in 1984, but its release was banned in the Soviet Union for its semi-allegorical critique of Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
. It premiered at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival
1987 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*Yves Montand*Danièle Heymann*Elem Klimov*Gérald Calderon*Jeremy Thomas*Jerzy Skolimowski*Nicola Piovani*Norman Mailer*Theo Angelopoulos-Feature film competition:...
, winning the FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
Prize, Grand Prize of the Jury
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
, and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
The Prize of the Ecumenical Jury is an independent film award for feature films at the Cannes Film Festival since 1974. The Ecumenical Jury is one of three juries at the Cannes Film Festival, along with the official jury and the FIPRESCI jury. The award was created by Christian film makers, film...
.
Plot
Repentance is set in a small Georgian town. The film starts with the scene of a woman preparing a cake. A man in a chair is reading from a newspaper that the town's mayor, Varlam Aravidze (Avtandil MakharadzeAvtandil Makharadze
Avtandil Makharadze is a Georgian actor.He was born in Batumi. Active since the 1970s, Makharadze played Joseph Stalin in the 2005 BBC TV series Archangel in which he starred opposite Daniel Craig.-Selected filmography:...
) has died. One day after the funeral the corpse of the mayor turns up in the garden of his son's house. The corpse is reburied, only to reappear again in the garden. A woman, Ketevan Barateli (Zeinab Botsvadze), is eventually arrested and accused of digging up the corpse. She defends herself and states that Varlam does not deserve to be buried as he was responsible for a Stalin-like regime of terror responsible for the disappearance of her parents and her friends. She is put on trial and gives her testimony, with the story of Varlam's regime being told in flashbacks.
During the trial, whereas Varlam's son Abel (Avtandil Makharadze
Avtandil Makharadze
Avtandil Makharadze is a Georgian actor.He was born in Batumi. Active since the 1970s, Makharadze played Joseph Stalin in the 2005 BBC TV series Archangel in which he starred opposite Daniel Craig.-Selected filmography:...
) denies any wrongdoings by his father and his lawyer tries to get Ketevan declared insane. Varlam's grandson Tornike (Merab Ninidze
Merab Ninidze
Merab Ninidze is a Georgian actor. He is best known for the role of Walter Redlich in Nowhere in Africa.- Biography :From 1986 to 1991 he played at the Rustaveli State Academic Theater in Tbilisi. After moving to Austria in 1994, he now lives and works in Vienna and Berlin.-Selected...
) is shocked by the reveleations about the crimes of his grandfather. He ultimately commits suicide. Abel himself then throws Varlam's corpse off a cliff on the outskirts of the town.
At the end the film returns to the scene of the woman preparing a cake. An old woman is asking her at the window whether this is the road that leads to the church. The woman replies that the road is Varlam street and will not lead to the church. The old woman replies: "What good is a road if it doesn't lead to a church?".
Cast
Abuladze cast several of his family members in leading roles in the film.- Avtandil MakharadzeAvtandil MakharadzeAvtandil Makharadze is a Georgian actor.He was born in Batumi. Active since the 1970s, Makharadze played Joseph Stalin in the 2005 BBC TV series Archangel in which he starred opposite Daniel Craig.-Selected filmography:...
as Varlam Aravidze and as middle-aged Abel Aravidze - Dato Kemkhadze as young Abel Aravidze, son of Varlam Aravidze
- Ya Ninidze as Guliko, Abel's wife
- Zeinab Botsvadze as Ketevan Barateli
- Ketevan Abuladze as Nino Barateli
- Edisher Giorgobiani as Sandro Barateli
- Kakhi Kavsadze as Mikheil Koresheli
- Merab NinidzeMerab NinidzeMerab Ninidze is a Georgian actor. He is best known for the role of Walter Redlich in Nowhere in Africa.- Biography :From 1986 to 1991 he played at the Rustaveli State Academic Theater in Tbilisi. After moving to Austria in 1994, he now lives and works in Vienna and Berlin.-Selected...
as Tornike, Abel's and Guliko's son - Nino Zaqariadze as Elene Korisheli
- Nano Ochigava as Ketevan as a child
- Boris Tsipuria
- Akaki Khidasheli
- Leo Antadze as Levan Antadze
- Rezo Esadze
- Mzia Makhviladze as M. Makhazadze
- Amiran Amiranashvili
Production
Tengiz Abuladze started to think about the film in the early 1970s. A near-fatal car accident in the early 1980s then convinced Abuladze to start shooting the film. He was encouraged by Eduard ShevardnadzeEduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
who at that time was the first secretary of the Georgian Communist Party
Georgian Communist party
Georgia was incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic after 25 February 1921 when the Red Army entered its capital Tbilisi and installed a communist government led by Georgian Bolshevik Filipp Makharadze. After the 1924 August Uprising in Georgia the country was...
and who offered a special and uncensored slot on Georgian television for the film. During the shooting of the film the actor Georgi Kobakhidze was arrested for being involved in the hijacking of Aeroflot Flight 6833. Production was temporarily halted, and was resumed several months later with Mirab Ninidze replacing Kobakhidze. The movie itself details the false denunciations, forced imprisonment, and the burning of Christian churches - the very acts that earned the Soviet KGB its reputation for cruelty, especially against the Christian faith. It is estimated 42,000 Christian pastors/priests lost their lives, and their numbers declined from 380,000 to 172! A thousand monasteries, sixty seminaries, and ninety-eight of every hundred Orthodox churches were shuttered as portrayed in this film.
Release
When the film was finished in 1984 it was screened once and then shelved for three years. In 1987, with the new political climate initiated by Mikhail GorbachevMikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
the film was released again all over the Soviet Union and at film festival in Western countries. Abuladze was awarded the Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
and he accompanied Gorbachev on his first official visit in New York in 1988.
Reception
In West GermanyWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
Repentance was broadcasted by ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
on 13 October 1987. The broadcast was received and widely seen in East Germany where the film was banned. East German television viewers reacted strongly as they saw parallels to their own regime. This reaction forced East German authorities and the East German press to react. Harald Wessel, second editor in chief of Neues Deutschland
Neues Deutschland
Neues Deutschland is a national German daily newspaper. It was the official party newspaper of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany , which governed the German Democratic Republic , and as such served as one of the party's most important organs...
and the editor in chief of the Junge Welt
Junge Welt
junge Welt is a German daily newspaper published in Berlin. The jW describes itself as a left and Marxist newspaperIt was first published on 12 February 1947 in the Soviet Sector of Berlin. junge Welt became the official newspaper of the Central Council of the Free German Youth on 12 November 1947...
, Hans-Dieter Schütt published editorials in their newspapers that tried to both denounce the film and to avoid anti-soviet undertones. The situation was complicated by the fact that the editorials were for a film that was banned and should theoretically be unknown to East German readers.
Awards
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45th Golden Globe Awards 45th Golden Globe Awards The 45th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1987, were held on January 23, 1988.-Best Actor - Drama: Michael Douglas - Wall Street*John Lone - The Last Emperor*Jack Nicholson - Ironweed*Nick Nolte - Weeds... |
Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the awards presented at the Golden Globes, an American film awards ceremony.Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film could be honoured... |
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| 1987 Cannes Film Festival 1987 Cannes Film Festival - Jury :*Yves Montand*Danièle Heymann*Elem Klimov*Gérald Calderon*Jeremy Thomas*Jerzy Skolimowski*Nicola Piovani*Norman Mailer*Theo Angelopoulos-Feature film competition:... |
Grand Prize of the Jury Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival) The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or... |
Tengiz Abuladze Tengiz Abuladze Tengiz Abuladze was a Georgian film director.Abuladze studied theatre direction at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre Institute, Tbilisi, Georgia, and filmmaking at the VGIK in Moscow. He graduated VGIK in 1952 and in 1953 he joined Gruziya-film as a director... |
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| FIPRESCI Prize | Tengiz Abuladze Tengiz Abuladze Tengiz Abuladze was a Georgian film director.Abuladze studied theatre direction at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre Institute, Tbilisi, Georgia, and filmmaking at the VGIK in Moscow. He graduated VGIK in 1952 and in 1953 he joined Gruziya-film as a director... |
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| Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Prize of the Ecumenical Jury The Prize of the Ecumenical Jury is an independent film award for feature films at the Cannes Film Festival since 1974. The Ecumenical Jury is one of three juries at the Cannes Film Festival, along with the official jury and the FIPRESCI jury. The award was created by Christian film makers, film... |
Tengiz Abuladze Tengiz Abuladze Tengiz Abuladze was a Georgian film director.Abuladze studied theatre direction at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre Institute, Tbilisi, Georgia, and filmmaking at the VGIK in Moscow. He graduated VGIK in 1952 and in 1953 he joined Gruziya-film as a director... |
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| Golden Palm Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du... |
Tengiz Abuladze Tengiz Abuladze Tengiz Abuladze was a Georgian film director.Abuladze studied theatre direction at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre Institute, Tbilisi, Georgia, and filmmaking at the VGIK in Moscow. He graduated VGIK in 1952 and in 1953 he joined Gruziya-film as a director... |
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| 1987 Chicago International Film Festival Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America.... |
Best Actor | Avtandil Makharadze Avtandil Makharadze Avtandil Makharadze is a Georgian actor.He was born in Batumi. Active since the 1970s, Makharadze played Joseph Stalin in the 2005 BBC TV series Archangel in which he starred opposite Daniel Craig.-Selected filmography:... |
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| Nika Awards Nika Award The Nika Award is a prestigious annual ceremony held by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences which was established in 1987 in Moscow, Russia by Yuli Gusman, and ostensibly modelled on the Academy Awards . Russian Academy Award takes its name from Nike, the goddess of victory... |
Best Actor | Avtandil Makharadze | |
| Best Cinematographer | Mikhail Agranovich | ||
| Best Director | Tengiz Abuladze | ||
| Best Film | Tengiz Abuladze | ||
| Best Production Designer | Giorgi Miqeladze | ||
| Best Screenplay | Tengiz Abuladze, Nana Janelidze, Rezo Kveselava |