DIRECTOR: TINATIN KAJRISHVILI
STARRING: LEVAN BERIKASHVILI, GEORGE BABLUANI, MARI KITIA
RUNNING TIME: 1 HR 37 MINUTES
On the main square of a mining town stands a cross depicting a saint, regarded by the local miners as their protector. One day, the cross is taken down for repair and the statue of the saint suddenly vanishes.
STARRING: LEVAN BERIKASHVILI, GEORGE BABLUANI, MARI KITIA
RUNNING TIME: 1 HR 37 MINUTES
On the main square of a mining town stands a cross depicting a saint, regarded by the local miners as their protector. One day, the cross is taken down for repair and the statue of the saint suddenly vanishes.
FILM REVIEW:
(This review contains spoilers.)
“There’s no place for you amongst us.”
Citizen Saint is the International Feature submission for Georgia. Strikingly shot in black and white, the film takes place in a small Georgian mining town. A saint’s statue stands atop a small hill right beside the entrance to a mine. Mine workers pay tribute to this saint before starting their gruelling shift in the dark confined underground world of tunnels. Elderly couples arrive to pay tribute to this statue. Even local gangsters ask for protection and absolution. Legend has it that this saint was tortured, crucified and on the third day turned to stone. Now he’s the town people’s saviour.
One day, the statue is taken down for restoration in a nearby museum, but the man on the crucifix disappears the next morning. Despite the doors being locked and the security seals around the building remaining unbroken, this saint has completely vanished. To add to the intriguing layer to the puzzle, a mute foreigner has shown up in the town. It doesn’t take long for the people to decide that this man is the statue come to life, and at first he is much celebrated. But, as the days go by, the presence of a living saint becomes a nuisance for the mining village.
The film explores the presence of faith in the most abandoned corners of the world, where dangerous work and poverty can lead people to imagine a saviour is looking out for them. In this town, where hundreds of people have died inside the mines, a little bit hope is what they’re looking for to keep working in a job where one’s life is always at risk. They spend their lives underground, waiting for death. The look of death is on their faces. That’s why, in a mining city, the saint guarding the people’s lives must also be a miner, and someone who suffered the same way.
Now, the people in this town look for this mute man to perform gifts and miracles for them. But they get resentful when their prayers aren’t being fixed immediately. They also begin to wonder if this mute will eventually spill out all of their secrets. It’s easier to justify an unanswered prayer when talking to an inanimate object. And it’s easier to talk to a stone revealing all your darkest secrets knowing that they can’t respond back. A statue can spend years without performing a miracle without being discredited. When talking to a person though, the saint is constantly being questioned to prove his powers. And when that doesn't happen, they begin to get irritated and want nothing to do with him, despite not doing anything wrong.
When the statue becomes a man, a citizen, there’s no longer the possibility to pin the blame on your misfortunes on a higher power, on a saint. Faith becomes a threat when the mystery has been removed.
REVIEW: B+
(This review contains spoilers.)
“There’s no place for you amongst us.”
Citizen Saint is the International Feature submission for Georgia. Strikingly shot in black and white, the film takes place in a small Georgian mining town. A saint’s statue stands atop a small hill right beside the entrance to a mine. Mine workers pay tribute to this saint before starting their gruelling shift in the dark confined underground world of tunnels. Elderly couples arrive to pay tribute to this statue. Even local gangsters ask for protection and absolution. Legend has it that this saint was tortured, crucified and on the third day turned to stone. Now he’s the town people’s saviour.
One day, the statue is taken down for restoration in a nearby museum, but the man on the crucifix disappears the next morning. Despite the doors being locked and the security seals around the building remaining unbroken, this saint has completely vanished. To add to the intriguing layer to the puzzle, a mute foreigner has shown up in the town. It doesn’t take long for the people to decide that this man is the statue come to life, and at first he is much celebrated. But, as the days go by, the presence of a living saint becomes a nuisance for the mining village.
The film explores the presence of faith in the most abandoned corners of the world, where dangerous work and poverty can lead people to imagine a saviour is looking out for them. In this town, where hundreds of people have died inside the mines, a little bit hope is what they’re looking for to keep working in a job where one’s life is always at risk. They spend their lives underground, waiting for death. The look of death is on their faces. That’s why, in a mining city, the saint guarding the people’s lives must also be a miner, and someone who suffered the same way.
Now, the people in this town look for this mute man to perform gifts and miracles for them. But they get resentful when their prayers aren’t being fixed immediately. They also begin to wonder if this mute will eventually spill out all of their secrets. It’s easier to justify an unanswered prayer when talking to an inanimate object. And it’s easier to talk to a stone revealing all your darkest secrets knowing that they can’t respond back. A statue can spend years without performing a miracle without being discredited. When talking to a person though, the saint is constantly being questioned to prove his powers. And when that doesn't happen, they begin to get irritated and want nothing to do with him, despite not doing anything wrong.
When the statue becomes a man, a citizen, there’s no longer the possibility to pin the blame on your misfortunes on a higher power, on a saint. Faith becomes a threat when the mystery has been removed.
REVIEW: B+
