06/07/2023 - Georgian director Tinatin Kajrishvili departs from her earlier style with this black-and-white allegory that combines religion and superstition to strange and intriguing effect

Gia Burdjanadze, Mari Kitia and Temiko Tchitchinadze in Citizen Saint

In her earlier films Brides [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tinatin Kajrishvili
film profile] and Horizon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tinatin Kajrishvili
film profile], Georgian filmmaker Tinatin Kajrishvili explored complex interpersonal relationships, often in heightened emotional registers. Her new film, Citizen Saint [+see also:
interview: Tinatin Kajrishvili
film profile], which has just world-premiered in Karlovy Vary's competition, represents a departure from this style, as it is an allegorical story set in a surreal world that is simultaneously the one we feel we inhabit and several steps removed from it.

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Strikingly shot in deeply nuanced black and white by Bulgarian cinematographer Krum Rodriguez, the film revolves around a Georgian mine and the figure of a saint. Crucified on a T-shaped pole, rather than a traditional cross, and perched on a pedestal, the statue is dressed in full mining equipment, and before going down to the tunnels in their clunky train, the miners walk around it for blessings and luck.

Our initial guide is Berdo (Levan Berikashvili), a middle-aged (going on old) man who inhabits a part of a shaft that caved in ten years ago, an incident that claimed the lives of a group of miners, including his son. Berdo lives with a dog, but his real roommate is the ghost, or shadow, of the son – we don't see it, but he keeps talking to it. His estranged and emotionally devastated wife (Lia Abuladze) keeps coming and going like an apparition.

Soon, we meet other principal players, most of them, like the saint, archetypal figures more than characters: the self-important security officer (Gia Burdjanadze), the pettily authoritative mine manager (Temiko Tchitchinadze) and the needy Mari (Mari Kitia), whose husband Vano (George Bochorishvili) lost his legs in that same cave-in. She wants to “buy” a miracle, investing in the construction of a temple for the saint and the renovation of the statue.

But when it is taken to the museum for renovation, the figure vanishes overnight, with only the cross remaining. On the same day, a stranger (George Babluani) simply appears at the site. The young man doesn't speak, and no one knows where he came from, but miracles start to happen. The stranger finds a path through the caved-in tunnel, where Berdo finally encounters his son, and stigmata appear on the stranger's hands. It is clear to everybody – except for the cynical manager and security officer – that their saint has come to life in the form of the stranger. The mine becomes a place of pilgrimage, with desperate people coming for a blessing and everyone, especially Mari, demanding his services.

Co-written by Kajrishvili and Basa Janikashvili, the film primarily functions on an allegorical level. Christian symbolism and its interpretations abound – sheep, goats, Mari's sensual approach to the saint – against the backdrop of bare rocks, train tracks and industrial chimneys. This creates an emotional distance: in the face of a miracle, the characters manifest their most base needs, bitterly believing they deserve more, rather than believing in the saint.

Superstition and religion mix, an aspect underlined by the sound design and particularly Tako Zhordania's dramatic score, which combines ancient instruments, such as the rough-sounding, two-stringed erhu, with an Orthodox choir. What the film shows is how hope can be a terrible thing, and how low people can stoop to fulfil their unearned and selfish desires.

It is difficult to get to the catharsis that has been Kajrishvili's trademark in her previous pictures through such a distanced approach. But in the very final scene, she pulls it off, albeit in an intellectual, rather than emotional, way. The film is a strange and, at times, alienating ride, but one well worth embarking on.

Citizen Saint is a co-production between Georgia's Artizm and Gemini, France's Mandra Films, and Bulgaria's Chouchkov Brothers.