Repentance
The film Repentance begins with a woman baking cakes designed to look like churches and moments later discovering that a man, Varlam Aravidze, has died. It's rather obvious that she isn't sorrowful ov…
Repentance
The film Repentance begins with a woman baking cakes designed to look like churches and moments later discovering that a man, Varlam Aravidze, has died. It's rather obvious that she isn't sorrowful over the death, unlike her male companion who cries that he was "a great man". The film moves forward to Varlam's funeral, with a line of people moving before Varlam's family and sharing their condolences. Varlam's grandson is the only one who seems genuinely saddened by his passing. Following his funeral and burial, Varlam's corpse is soon unearthed and propped up against the tree outside his son, Abel's, residence, much to the family's horror. In response the authorities arrest Varlam's corpse. At the advice of his "fool" neighbor, Abel decides to rebury Varlam but to contract a cage around his grave. The next morning Varlam's corpse in unearthed once again and sat casually at a table in Abel's backyard. After this the police stand guard overnight and quickly discover the culprit responsible- it's the woman who was baking cakes at the start of the film. We find out that the woman's name is Keti Barateli, and she was the daughter of an artist named Sandro and his beautiful wife, Nino. Keti recalls Varlam being elected mayor when she was 8 and her father taking issue with Varlam's use of their ancient church for experiments that are ruining the infrastructure of the cathedral. Sandro argues that the destruction of the church means the destruction of the history and culture that give life to their people. He says destroy the church, "then throw into fire the works of Rustaveli and Dante! Stop playing Bach, Beethoven, Verdi. Let's demolish the St. Peter Church, Notre Dame, Svetitskhoveli." Varlam appears to give in a bit to those imploring him to maintain the safety of the church but then threatens Sandro by casually informing him he know's where he lives and saw his young daughter (8 year old Keti) blowing bubbles during his mayoral parade. He then proceeds to arrest the two people who had joined Sandro to argue on behalf of the church, but shortly after it is said that they were released. Varlam then show's up at Sandro's apartment and hits on his wife and gives Keti some birds before sending her off to play with his son Abel. Varlam begins to tell Sandro that he needs and artist like him to enlighten the people and culturally enrich them, to which Sandro replies that people can only be enlightened by a spiritual pastor. Keti and Abel and shown looking at a crucifix and Keti is explaining Jesus to Abel and how he is alive in heaven- Abel asks about his diseased mother and whether Jesus could revive her. Nino overhears and tells young Abel that his mother is alive in heaven. Varlam then performs William Shakespeare's Sonnet 66, stating "a regime is a regime" before exiting Sandro's apartment through the window with his men and his son. Moments later Varlam returns and explains that Abel took the crucifix believing it could revive his mom- he gives it to Nino saying "take care of it, this is a very valuable thing." Nino has a dream where she and Sandro are being chased through the town by Varlam and his men and then out into a field where they attempt to hide by burying themselves in dirt before being discovered by Varlam who then sings the same song he had performed in their apartment earlier that evening. She wakes and tells Sandro that they must leave town, and Sandro reassures her that there is nothing they could be arrested for. Seconds later the doorbell rings and two of Varlam's soldiers tell Sandro he must come with them while they begin taking Sandro's art from his walls. Varlam then argues with Sandro's friend Mikhail Korisheli (who is also the local Party Secretary) after Mikhail dismisses a letter detailing Sandro's arrest as ridiculous. Varlam informs Mikhail that he and Sandro are related and says he is the enemy now- in response, Mikhail slaps Varlam. Nino and Keti go with a slip of paper to a line presumably meant to tell them information on Sandro's wellbeing. A woman and her daughter hand over their paper and give their name and are told "the parcel was received" and the woman is relieved to the point of tears before walking away satisfied. The next woman is told whoever she is looking for has been exiled and she begins to argue and cries "just tell us he's dead!" Nino and Keti hand over their paper and are told Sandro has been exiled (so he has most likely been killed.) We unsurprisingly learn that Mikhail has been arrested and Nino is left in a room alone with pictures of Varlam on sticks from his parade. She throws one on the ground and jabs it with a stick before noticing Varlam is standing in the room with her. She immediately stops and begins to praise him before falling to her knees and begging for him to help her; he responds by walking away. Soon after we see Keti and Nino searching a lumber yard for Sandro's body. Next we see Sandro being questioned in a garden by a piano-playing tuxedo-ed man and accompanied by a blindfolded woman holding the scales of justice. They bring out Mikhail who agrees he was a member of an organization attempting to dig a tunnel from Bombay to London and that Sandro was also a member. The tuxedo man leaves them to talk in private, leading the blindfolded woman with him. Mikhail has a sort of psychotic episode and collapses while Sandro sadly looks on. Varlam is shown giving an erratic, fear-inspiring speech to the town and then we see Nino being comforted by Yelena that Sandro would be released soon. Sandro is then shown being executed and the church is blown up right after. Doksopulo alerts Varlam that he has arrested a truckload of people all with the same last name for him, happily saying he'd brought him "a truck full of enemies." At first Varlam snaps to release all of them and apologize and demands for Doksopulo's resignation, before changing his mind and arresting them all after all, allowing Doksopulo to keep his job. Varlam's assistant visits Nino and Keti and gives them train tickets, telling her Varlam's men would be coming for them tonight. Moment's after Varlam's assistant leaves, his mom appear and take Nino and Keti. It finally returns to the courtroom where Keti demands Varlam not be buried, for "to bury him is to bury what he did." Varlam's grandson, Tornike, has a dream (?) that he's in a concrete enclosure with Varlam where he's threatening to kill the sun, before dying. Abel finds Tornike alone, still seated in the courtroom. He obviously, unlike the rest of his family, believed Keti's story. Him and his father argue over the kind of man Varlam was and Tornike tells Abel he hates him before exiting the room. Tornike is then shown laying in bed that night, while a doctor tells his parents he is in shock. He imagines Varlam laying in a casket as if it were a bed while a woman dances above him. In court they argue over the sanity of Keti and Abel looks pensive. That night he goes into his basement where a crucifix is placed on the wall and asks for a confession from a priest that is pictured eating a raw fish while Abel confesses to him. Abel says he is worried about his faith- the priest responds that Abel is not concerned about good and evil and that it is his fear that is killing him. He admits to being afraid of himself and the kind of person he is. The priest then tells him he's a coward and that if it were up to him he would send Abel straight to hell. Abel get's angry and asks who he is and it's revealed that the priest was Varlam who says "so you came to confess to the devil?" and laughs. Abel is viably shaken at court, holding the skeleton of the fish Varlam had been eating. Keti says during court that Varlam continues to live as long as people continue to defend him. Tornike comes to visit her in her cell and asks for her forgiveness. She tells him they're putting her in an insane asylum and he confronts his father about it- they argue and his father slaps him. Tornike proceeds to kill himself in his room. Abel then throws his father's body off of a cliff. It then returns to the kitchen scene from the beginning, and a woman on the street stops and asks Keti through her window is the road leads to a church. Keti replies "No, this is Varlam Street and it doesn't lead to a church," to which the woman replies "Then what do you need it for? Why have a road that doesn't lead to a church?" before walking away.
Repentance
Drama
Film Details
The film Repentance begins with a woman baking cakes designed to look like churches and moments later discovering that a man, Varlam Aravidze, has died. It's rather obvious that she isn't sorrowful over the death, unlike her male companion who cries that he was "a great man". The film moves forward to Varlam's funeral, with a line of people moving before Varlam's family and sharing their condolences.
Varlam's grandson is the only one who seems genuinely saddened by his passing. Following his funeral and burial, Varlam's corpse is soon unearthed and propped up against the tree outside his son, Abel's, residence, much to the family's horror. In response the authorities arrest Varlam's corpse.
At the advice of his "fool" neighbor, Abel decides to rebury Varlam but to contract a cage around his grave. The next morning Varlam's corpse in unearthed once again and sat casually at a table in Abel's backyard. After this the police stand guard overnight and quickly discover the culprit responsible- it's the woman who was baking cakes at the start of the film.
We find out that the woman's name is Keti Barateli, and she was the daughter of an artist named Sandro and his beautiful wife, Nino. Keti recalls Varlam being elected mayor when she was 8 and her father taking issue with Varlam's use of their ancient church for experiments that are ruining the infrastructure of the cathedral. Sandro argues that the destruction of the church means the destruction of the history and culture that give life to their people.
He says destroy the church, "then throw into fire the works of Rustaveli and Dante! Stop playing Bach, Beethoven, Verdi. Let's demolish the St. Peter Church, Notre Dame, Svetitskhoveli." Varlam appears to give in a bit to those imploring him to maintain the safety of the church but then threatens Sandro by casually informing him he know's where he lives and saw his young daughter (8 year old Keti) blowing bubbles during his mayoral parade.
He then proceeds to arrest the two people who had joined Sandro to argue on behalf of the church, but shortly after it is said that they were released. Varlam then show's up at Sandro's apartment and hits on his wife and gives Keti some birds before sending her off to play with his son Abel. Varlam begins to tell Sandro that he needs and artist like him to enlighten the people and culturally enrich them, to which Sandro replies that people can only be enlightened by a spiritual pastor.
Keti and Abel and shown looking at a crucifix and Keti is explaining Jesus to Abel and how he is alive in heaven- Abel asks about his diseased mother and whether Jesus could revive her. Nino overhears and tells young Abel that his mother is alive in heaven. Varlam then performs William Shakespeare's Sonnet 66, stating "a regime is a regime" before exiting Sandro's apartment through the window with his men and his son.
Moments later Varlam returns and explains that Abel took the crucifix believing it could revive his mom- he gives it to Nino saying "take care of it, this is a very valuable thing." Nino has a dream where she and Sandro are being chased through the town by Varlam and his men and then out into a field where they attempt to hide by burying themselves in dirt before being discovered by Varlam who then sings the same song he had performed in their apartment earlier that evening. She wakes and tells Sandro that they must leave town, and Sandro reassures her that there is nothing they could be arrested for. Seconds later the doorbell rings and two of Varlam's soldiers tell Sandro he must come with them while they begin taking Sandro's art from his walls.
Varlam then argues with Sandro's friend Mikhail Korisheli (who is also the local Party Secretary) after Mikhail dismisses a letter detailing Sandro's arrest as ridiculous. Varlam informs Mikhail that he and Sandro are related and says he is the enemy now- in response, Mikhail slaps Varlam. Nino and Keti go with a slip of paper to a line presumably meant to tell them information on Sandro's wellbeing.
A woman and her daughter hand over their paper and give their name and are told "the parcel was received" and the woman is relieved to the point of tears before walking away satisfied. The next woman is told whoever she is looking for has been exiled and she begins to argue and cries "just tell us he's dead!" Nino and Keti hand over their paper and are told Sandro has been exiled (so he has most likely been killed.) We unsurprisingly learn that Mikhail has been arrested and Nino is left in a room alone with pictures of Varlam on sticks from his parade. She throws one on the ground and jabs it with a stick before noticing Varlam is standing in the room with her.
She immediately stops and begins to praise him before falling to her knees and begging for him to help her; he responds by walking away. Soon after we see Keti and Nino searching a lumber yard for Sandro's body. Next we see Sandro being questioned in a garden by a piano-playing tuxedo-ed man and accompanied by a blindfolded woman holding the scales of justice.
They bring out Mikhail who agrees he was a member of an organization attempting to dig a tunnel from Bombay to London and that Sandro was also a member. The tuxedo man leaves them to talk in private, leading the blindfolded woman with him. Mikhail has a sort of psychotic episode and collapses while Sandro sadly looks on.
Varlam is shown giving an erratic, fear-inspiring speech to the town and then we see Nino being comforted by Yelena that Sandro would be released soon. Sandro is then shown being executed and the church is blown up right after. Doksopulo alerts Varlam that he has arrested a truckload of people all with the same last name for him, happily saying he'd brought him "a truck full of enemies." At first Varlam snaps to release all of them and apologize and demands for Doksopulo's resignation, before changing his mind and arresting them all after all, allowing Doksopulo to keep his job.
Varlam's assistant visits Nino and Keti and gives them train tickets, telling her Varlam's men would be coming for them tonight. Moment's after Varlam's assistant leaves, his mom appear and take Nino and Keti. It finally returns to the courtroom where Keti demands Varlam not be buried, for "to bury him is to bury what he did." Varlam's grandson, Tornike, has a dream (?) that he's in a concrete enclosure with Varlam where he's threatening to kill the sun, before dying.
Abel finds Tornike alone, still seated in the courtroom. He obviously, unlike the rest of his family, believed Keti's story. Him and his father argue over the kind of man Varlam was and Tornike tells Abel he hates him before exiting the room.
Tornike is then shown laying in bed that night, while a doctor tells his parents he is in shock. He imagines Varlam laying in a casket as if it were a bed while a woman dances above him. In court they argue over the sanity of Keti and Abel looks pensive.
That night he goes into his basement where a crucifix is placed on the wall and asks for a confession from a priest that is pictured eating a raw fish while Abel confesses to him. Abel says he is worried about his faith- the priest responds that Abel is not concerned about good and evil and that it is his fear that is killing him. He admits to being afraid of himself and the kind of person he is.
The priest then tells him he's a coward and that if it were up to him he would send Abel straight to hell. Abel get's angry and asks who he is and it's revealed that the priest was Varlam who says "so you came to confess to the devil?" and laughs. Abel is viably shaken at court, holding the skeleton of the fish Varlam had been eating.
Keti says during court that Varlam continues to live as long as people continue to defend him. Tornike comes to visit her in her cell and asks for her forgiveness. She tells him they're putting her in an insane asylum and he confronts his father about it- they argue and his father slaps him.
Tornike proceeds to kill himself in his room. Abel then throws his father's body off of a cliff. It then returns to the kitchen scene from the beginning, and a woman on the street stops and asks Keti through her window is the road leads to a church.
Keti replies "No, this is Varlam Street and it doesn't lead to a church," to which the woman replies "Then what do you need it for? Why have a road that doesn't lead to a church?" before walking away..