""Georgia-Film" Studio" "REPENTANCE" "The concluding film of a trilogy:" ""A Prayer", "The Wishing Tree", "Repentance"" "Written by" "Nana DZHANELlDZE, Tenghiz ABULADZE, Rezo KVESELAVA" "Directed by Tenghiz ABULADZE" "Director of Photography Mikhail AGRANOVlCH" "Production Designer Georgy MlKELADZE" "Musical Supervision Nana DZANELlDZE" "Musical pieces by classical composers are used in this film" "Starring" "Avtandil MAKHARADZE as Varlam Aravidze, Abel Aravidze lya NlNlDZE as Guliko Merab NlNlDZE as Tornike" "Zeinab BOTSVADZE as Ketevan Barateli Ketevan ABULADZE as Nino Barateli" "Edisher GlORGOBlANl as Sandro Barateli" "Kakhi KAVSADZE as Mikhail Korisheli Nino ZAKARlADZE as Yelena Korisheli" "Nato OCHlGAVA as Ketevan Barateli (as a child)" "Dato KEMKHADZE as Abel Aravidze (as a child)" "What a splendid cake, my dear Keto!" "Thank you." "Oh, God!" "What a misfortune!" "What happened, Apollon?" "What a great man we have lost!" "Oh, my God..." "Oh, God!" "Was he your relative?" "More than a relative!" "He was my closest friend." "Lucky you!" "This is the end to my luck!" "My dear Varlam is gone!" "And still you're lucky to have known such a man." "We'll never have a mayor as good as he was." "I hope you do well in your studies?" "What a man we have lost!" "What a great loss!" "What a painful word, 'death'!" "What a painful word!" "My condolences." "By the way, why is he not buried in the pantheon?" "He must have not wanted it himself?" "Good for Varlam, he was known for his modesty." "Thank you." "I commiserate with you over your loss." "Thank you, I appreciate it." "Varlam is not dead, no!" "His soul is here, over us, it's hovering in the air." "Tseretso is here." "Pull yourselves together!" "Thank you very much, patron." "I appreciate it." "Hurray for our benefactor Tseretso!" "Let's give him a round of applause!" "Ladies and gentlemen!" "In a few minutes the parting bell will ring and we'll commit to the earth the remains of a great son of his motherland, a man of a lofty soul, a bright mind and a kind heart," "loved by everyone, our highly esteemed Varlam Aravidze." "I think many of you have taken notice of the highly emotional and wise inscription on the wreath from the friends of the deceased." ""One dead man is sometimes better than a thousand live ones."" "Our dear Varlam had many virtues, it's hard to enumerate them all." "He had an extraordinary gift to turn his enemy into his friend, and his friend into his enemy." "Indeed, this is a quality of the chosen!" "A coffin, like a smorgasbord, stands in a spacious vault." "And faces grow dim in a faded mirror." "But there's no death, only a somersault of sinful flesh and agonizing fear." "May you rest in peace, indefatigable toiler!" "Rest in peace in your native earth." "He'll be gone, another'll come into this blooming world." "Indeed." "Why didn't your sweetheart honor the funeral with her presence?" "Don't say nonsense." "Though everything went off well even without her." "Shut up, will you?" "My dear boy!" "My poor orphan!" "Poor Abel..." "What's the matter with you?" "Stop clowning, it's enough." "Why is this portrait here?" "Allez-hop!" "Why is he howling, damn it?" "Don't get up, I'll go and look." "Abel!" "What's the matter?" "What's wrong?" "It's Varlam over there!" "Don't go there, Abel!" "Don't come near, Abel!" "Abel!" " Varlam!" " What?" "The corpse." " Arrest him." " Yes." "Who saw him first?" "Guliko." "How are you, esteemed Guliko?" "When did you see him first?" "I woke up this morning and saw him, poor thing, propped up against a tree." " We'll have to arrest the deceased." " What do you mean, to arrest?" "We need it for the inquiry." "In an hour you'll have your dear Varlam back safe and sound." "Go ahead, then." "But do it in gloves." "What times we're living in..." "They arrested Varlam himself." " Well?" " Have you been there?" " l have." " And what?" "They didn't receive me." "Someone had forestalled us." "My highly esteemed neighbor Abel!" "Did you really hope they would help you?" "What else can I do?" " Why is he butting in?" " He's a fool." "Listen to my advice:" "put an iron cage on the grave, with a lock on the door, close it, just like that, put the key in your pocket, and that's it, let them dig then." "The lion's in the cage." "Let anyone try to touch him." "Even pharaohs never had such pyramids." "Your group goes behind that grave!" "Don't make a step without my command, I'm in charge here!" "And you move over here." "No smoking, no talking, keep your eyes and ears open!" "Take your positions!" "Move!" "Abel, the prefect himself is overseeing the operation." "Yes, he's a warm-hearted man, he did not abandon me in my time of misery." "Abel, do you see those brightly lit windows beyond the cemetery?" " Yes, I do." " My relative lives there." "When he learned that we'd be at a stone's throw from his house, he had prepared a royal feast." "He'll be offended if we don't pay him a visit." "You want us to leave the grave?" "No one will show up before midnight." "If anything, the guards will call us." " l don't know." "Ask the prefect." " So you're for it?" "I'll be back." " Philip." "Meliton." " Yes, sir!" "Do you see that house, with a big lamp in the window?" "Yes, sir!" "We're going there." "If anything happens, call us right away. ls it clear?" "Yes, sir!" " When did you give up drinking?" " Yesterday." "Yesterday?" "O Lord, may my friend Philip's soul rest in peace." "Enough, or you'll drop dead!" "Boring life is not worth living." "Drink, sleep off, and drink again!" "Lucretius?" "I beg your pardon, dear sir!" "One can't do it here!" "What a poet he was, eh?" "The king of poets!" "Halt!" "Don't move!" "Or I'll fire!" "I'm going to strangle you, bastard!" "Let me go!" "Let go of me!" "So it's you who's desecrating our grave, scoundrel?" "Just let loose the dogs on him!" "Good Lord, it's a woman!" "Defendant Barateli!" "During the preliminary investigation you confessed that you had thrice dug up the deceased and carried him to the family's house." "Do you confirm that fact and do you plead guilty?" "I confirm the fact, but I don't plead guilty." "But you did plead guilty during the investigation." "It's a lie, I never pleaded guilty during the investigation." "is that your spade?" "Yes, I dug up the deceased with this spade." "But where's the bullet which was extracted from my arm?" " So you did dig up the deceased?" " Yes." "That's what you're guilty of, that's the fact of the crime." "Yes, I dug him up from the grave, but I don't plead guilty." "Be seated." "Please, be seated and observe the court order." "The trial has already taken place and the verdict has been passed!" "Sit down!" "As long as I live Varlam Aravidze will not rest in the ground." "This verdict is final, without appeal." "For it was pronounced by Providence to both of us:" "Aravidze and me." "I will dig him up three hundred times, notjust three!" "Sit down!" "Your Honour, the defendant is agitated, it's only natural." "May I have the floor?" "The counselor for defense may speak." "Your Honour, dear citizens!" "Today we're dealing with an unprecedented case." "The deceased had been thrice dug up from his grave." "Three times!" "It is an indisputable fact that the motive was not robbery:" "the valuables buried with the deceased had not been touched." "What was it then?" "What was the motive of the crime?" "I tried to talk to the defendant, but she refused to speak." "Therefore, we'll have to conduct both a hearing and an investigation, and, certainly, pass the verdict, right here." "That's why I ask this court to listen carefully to the defendant." "The defendant may speak." "Of course, all of you wonder why I'm persecuting the deceased." "It is the last thing I would want," "settling a score with a dead man." "Vengeance doesn't bring me any joy." "It's my misfortune." "My cross." "But there's no other way for me." "So, who is Varlam Aravidze?" "I was eight years old when he became our mayor." "Shortly before his death, Einstein raised his voice for the last time to tell the world of the tragedy of a modern scientist." "This was his testament:" ""The fate of a modern scientist is tragic." "His inspiration leads him to clarity and inner independence." "By almost superhuman efforts he had forged a weapon of his own social enslavement and destruction of his personality." "The situation even reached a point where the political authorities had muzzled him." "Has the time really passed when the scientist's intellectual freedom and independent research could enlighten and enrich people's lives?" "Has he forgotten, in his blind quest for the scientific truth, about his moral responsibility before humanity and about his honour?" "Our world is under threat of a crisis the scope of which seems not to be realized by those in authority..." "The released power of the atom changed everything but our way of thinking, and thus we keep sliding down to a catastrophe never seen heretofore." "For the mankind to survive, we have to learn to think in a new way." "The most difficult task of our time is to avert this threat." "At this decisive moment, I'll be appealing to you with all my feeble capacity."" "Our program "The world's great thinkers:" "Albert Einstein" is over." "Now listen to a concert of light music." "The vibration has damaged not only the frescos." "There are cracks in the walls of the church." "If it goes on this way, the church will collapse." "By the way, the church stands on piles." "We ask you to immediately stop laboratory experiments in the church and put up as soon as possible a new building for the research institute." "You mean to say that you're against science and progress?" "We're against the science that destroys ancient monuments." "Esteemed Varlam!" "Only you, as the town's mayor, can save that church." "We count on your help." "Doksopulo, what was that church directive about?" "It's about a dilapidated church." " Who says it's dilapidated?" " lt's almost ruined." "Almost." "You hear that?" "Almost!" "The building is almost ruined, it's the nidus of infection." "There're snakes and lizards breeding in its foundation." "No one attends your church anymore." "Long past are the times when people were being told that God created man." "The fact that we all had descended from a monkey was concealed." "That's why it's been decided to pull the church down and on that place..." "Wait, Doksopulo!" "Esteemed Doksopulo!" "The Church of the Mother of God is one of the greatest monuments of early Christianity." "A cultural monument!" "Demolishing it means cutting off the life-giving roots that nourish and spiritually enrich our people." "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..." "Esteemed Varlam!" "Our church used to have some unique relics." "Through centuries our ancestors had protected them up to this day." "But they've been lost without a trace." "Now the building is collapsing." "But we..." "Doksopulo, give me the text of my directive on the laboratory." "Look what's written here:" ""l deem appropriate the construction of a new building of the laboratory." "However, in view of lack of funds, we should temporarily abstain from it."" "You see, we're concerned, too." "But it seems we can't put it off any longer, you have convinced me." "Doksopulo!" "Do you have a mother?" "Yes." " How old is she?" " Very old." "Aren't you supposed to take care of her?" "The same goes for that church, the monument of the 6th century, our pride and our history." "A son should never leave his sick mother without care." "Remember it well." "We should be grateful to these noble people for opening up our eyes, for telling us the truth." "I give you my word that I won't spare any effort to solve this problem." "And the experiments, as far as I know, are conducted at a minimal capacity." "It will go on this way until the new building is erected." "If the high voltage installations work at a full capacity, not only the church, but the whole town will blow up." "What did you say?" "I'm destroying this document in your presence." "You can go." " What else can I do for you?" " That's all, thank you." "Then let's clarify some biographical details." "The biographies of esteemed Miriam and esteemed Mosse, those representatives of blue blood, are well known to me." "As for esteemed Sandro, I'm interested in just one fact." "Dear Sandro!" "Have you ever heard of a Tarasi Taraskaneli?" "Of course, I have." "Tarasi Taraskaneli is my great-great-grandfather." "It turns out we have a common forefather." "I'm also a descendant of Tarasi Taraskaneli." " ln what way?" " Yes, yes, I am." "But we'll talk about it later." "Now you'd better tell me this." "You live on the town square in a two-story house, don't you?" "During the ceremony a girl was blowing soap-bubbles from the window." "Was that your apartment?" "Yes." "I see everything, I notice everything." "So beware of me, be careful." "Though, this is no time forjoking." "As a matter of fact, this is life." "Some blow soap-bubbles, others prosecute the enemies of the people." "You artists are burning with creativity." "Paupers are begging, murderers are killing, whores, pardon, are whoring." "But is that normal?" "is that normal?" "!" "This is how it used to be, but it will never be this way again." "We'll turn our town into Paradise!" "With your help, my dear people, with your assistance." "The audience is over." "Perhaps Aravidze doesn't know about it?" "Why did they arrest those old people, can you explain it?" "Some spies!" "They're not guilty of anything." "Of course, it's because of the church." "Calm down." "That's his revenge for having to tear his directive." "I'll go to him, he must set the old people free immediately, or let him arrest me, too!" "Calm down, dear Sandro." "What do you have to do with it?" "I took them to Aravidze, I'm to blame for their arrest, it's the church..." " lt's not because of the church." " Why, then?" " l don't know." " You don't know?" "Sandro, you must calm down." "I promise you, I'll do my best." "Varlam will look into it and report to me." "What is there to look into?" "What?" "It's not fair, Sandro." "What do you want from Aravidze?" "He wasn't here..." "Stop your ravings." "Go home and let me deal with it..." "Yes, Varlam." "Varlam, we should use discretion in such matters." "No." "Yes." "Of course." "Thank you." "Goodbye." "You're a strange man, Sandro." "A real crank." "Varlam looked into it and set them free." "What do you say now?" "Mommy!" "I don't know if Sandro Barateli can be compared to the great Botticelli, but I know that Nino Barateli looks like Botticelli's heavenly Madonnas." "I hope I didn't scare you, lovely Nino?" "One kisses hands of common mortals, as for goddesses and saints, one ought to bow down to them." "Dear Nino, I've heard so much about you, about the artist Sandro Barateli and his beautiful wife." "I have dreamed of meeting you and seeing your pictures." "But Mikhail and Yelena kept me waiting..." "That's slander, esteemed Varlam." "It's you who is constantly busy, especially lately." "Dear Sandro, I'd like to apologize for my zealous assistants." "I'm glad you so timely stood up for the unfairly punished old people." " How long had they been there?" " For 24 hours." " Poor things must have been scared?" " Not much, they're not easily scared." "Well, they're the old guard, right?" "Esteemed Mosse, beautiful Miriam." "And this is the most important member of the family, Keti Barateli." "Dear Keti!" "Dear Keti, please!" "Thank you." "Keti, take Abel to your room to play." "Sandro has already met our esteemed Kaiosro Doksopulo." "As for Geno Rictafelov... his name sounds like rictafela, a children's game of tagging." "It's a piece of wood to tap a stick with." "Anyway, both of my companions are first-rate singers." "Bravo!" "That's a talent, too, my dear hostess." "Forgive us for being a little tipsy, we talk too much, we sing, we even stumble a bit." "We won't bother you for long." "Sandro!" "Any of your works can do credit to the world's finest museums." "Excuse me, Nino." "That's the kind of painting we need:" "serious, thoughtful, profound." "Dear Sandro!" "is it really impossible that our contemporaries would have" "such spiritually inspired faces, instead of the stereotyped, soulless physiognomies, all looking alike?" "Why can't we paint a toiling woman as a Madonna?" "What could be more beautiful than a working person?" "Nothing!" "Although you'll have a lot of antagonists, isn't it so, Yelena?" "Of course, it's absolutely true." "They will say:" ""What do we need this art for?" "This is just chamber art, fit for a boudoir." "In fact, it's escapism."" "And I would say to them:" ""Sometimes escapism means plunging into the greater reality." "Our people need the great reality."" "Though, do you know how our enemies may interpret it?" "As a call to anarchy." "Yes, yes, to all-out anarchy." "And who is this?" "Very good, Sandro, very good!" "And here's our Nino." "Splendid work!" "It would be interesting to look into their brains." "What's going on there?" "Dear Sandro, at least they're literate." "And what ignoramuses I have to deal with in my line of duty!" " lsn't that true, dear Yelena?" " Absolutely true." "Today we need to have beside us the artists exactly like you." "You have a great mission." "We must enlighten the people, elevate their cultural level." "Dear Varlam!" "Do you think that I, with my paintings, or you, by your efforts, can enlighten the people that had created "The Knight in a Tiger's Skin"?" "The people can be enlightened only by a spiritual pastor." "A moral hero." "Modesty is a virtue." "You're right, Sandro, I'm not a spiritual pastor." "But have a little patience, do not hasten us." "Give us some time." "A hero is born by his time." "Perhaps the time of trial will come soon, both for you and me." "What was Christ tortured for?" "He was tortured for the truth." "Don't be afraid, Christ isn't dead." "He rose from the dead and flew to the sky, like a bird." "He's in the sky." "There're only kind people there." "Evil people cannot get there." " Why not?" " The evil ones are heavy." " Why are they heavy?" " You don't know?" "Because of sins." "And a kind person's soul is pure and light as a bird, it can easily fly." " How do you know it?" " My mother told me." "You know, this is a miracle-working crucifix." "If you ask it for something before going to sleep or during the new moon, everything will come true." " Everything?" " Yes, everything." "Really?" "Everything will come true?" "Everything!" "Can it revive my mother?" "You have no mother?" "Your mother loves you." "She's alive, she's in Heaven, with angels, and she's looking at you." "She's thinking about you." " Nino, come here for a minute!" " Coming!" "Bravo!" "We have to go, it's time for the child to go to bed." "Abel!" "Abel!" "I'm going to ask your dad to let you stay here for a while." "Uncle Varlam, may Abel stay for a minute?" " For a minute, he may." " Thank you." "But only for one minute." "Esteemed Varlam, will you sing again?" "Sing something else, please." "Don't refuse, please, dear Varlam!" "With great pleasure." "Tired with all these, for restful death I cry," "As, to behold desert a beggar born," "And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity," "And purest faith unhappily forsworn," "And gilded honour shamefully misplaced," "And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted," "And right perfection wrongfully disgraced," "And strength by limping sway disabled," "And art made tongue-tied by authority," "And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill," "And simple truth miscall'd simplicity," "And captive good attending captain ill." "William Shakespeare." "Sonnet 66." "A regimen is a regimen." "Abel, allez-hop!" "I'll come to see you again." "Mommy, he galloped off!" "A comedian." "A clown." "Excuse me, Nino, it's me again." "My silly boy took your crucifix." "He says Keti gave it to him." "He believes this thing will revive his mommy. I'm glad I noticed it." "Take care of it, this is a very valuable thing." "Lovely Nino." "Will you include me in the list of your admirers?" "Please!" "Sandro!" " What is it?" " l saw an awful dream, Sandro." "Let's leave this town, let's go to some faraway place." "As far from here as possible." "If they want to, they'll find us wherever we are." "Oh God!" "That was exactly my dream!" "What are we going to do?" "Nino, you remind me of the hare that is running like mad." ""Where are you running?" he's asked." ""They're hunting the wolves," he says." ""What do you have to do with it?"" ""lf they catch me, I'll never prove I'm not a wolf."" "My little wimp!" "Sandro, that's them." "Sandro... I'm sure that's them!" "Peace onto this house." "Are you Sandro Barateli?" "Yes." "You'll have to come with us." "As you wish." "Hello, esteemed Mikhail." "On what grounds did you arrest Sandro Barateli yesterday?" "What is this?" "Read it." ""The daub of some so-called painters has lately taken on the characteristics of individualism." "That conceited hooligan of an artist..." "He is connected to anarchist poets." "The other day, in a circle of his fellow artists he publicly threatened to cut off, with his grandfather's dagger, the arm of anyone who would dare to even touch the Church of the Mother of God." "We wonder who is patronizing this maniac by organizing his personal exhibitions?" "The art of anarchist Barateli is a disgrace to our culture." "It is dangerous for our society." "If you don't deal with this shady character, we will appeal to the appropriate organs!" "A group of artists."" "And this letter was the reason for Barateli's arrest?" "I'm asking you." "You arrested him because of that rubbish, that filth?" "The nation's real enemies are those who wrote this." "They simply ran amok." "It's outrageous!" "Barateli is my friend." "Moreover, he is my pupil, and I'm proud of him." "You mean to say that my friend... and my pupil is an enemy?" "I understand, but this is not an argument for the letter's authors." "Maybe the artist's talent isn't a strong argument for them either?" "They have in mind his stand." "What are you talking about?" "Talent is kindness, and that's already a stand!" "I understand that Sandro Barateli is your friend and pupil." "By the way, do you know that he's my relative?" "No..." "I didn't know that." "Even a close relative." "Write a protest, esteemed Mikhail." "Barateli is arrested, but he's not convicted." "I was just executing the people's will, masses stand behind that letter." "And each word coming from the masses is the holy of holies for me." "Write a protest, esteemed Mikhail." "To write a protest?" "Yes, I have nothing against it." "Wait, wait..." "What do you mean, "nothing against it"?" "What can you possibly have against the truth?" "The truth?" "Nothing." "Well, I'll write it!" "Go ahead, write it." "But take that letter into account, too." "What does that letter, that filth have to do with it?" "That provocation?" "!" "Not a provocation, but a document registered in thousands of places." " l don't care where it's registered." " You're wrong, esteemed Mikhail." "It's my duty to take the position of the majority, for the majority decides." "What majority?" "What are you talking about?" "One man of reason outweighs a thousand idiots." "I understand that you're talking about me." "Stand up for him." "Defending one person is not such a big deal." "But remember, as the letter's authors see it, you're protecting the enemy." "Yes, your friend and my relative is our enemy now." "And we are his victims." "Who is the enemy?" "Children go ahead of the line, children ahead of the line." "Let us through, let us through." "Children ahead of the line!" " Baakashvili." " Your document." "The parcel is accepted." "Koreli, Elizbar." "Exiled without right of correspondence." "Where was he exiled to?" "Where?" "To what place?" "You'd better tell me he is not alive, that he's dead." "Stop torturing us!" "Say that he's dead..." "The parcel is accepted." "Barateli." "Exiled without right of correspondence." "My dear, you can't go there." "Mikhail Korisheli has been arrested." "Go away before you get in trouble, too." "Esteemed Varlam!" "Help us, help us, please!" "Sandro is perishing." "Save him!" "I beg you, esteemed Varlam!" "Help us, esteemed Varlam!" "Aunt Nino, they brought logs to the station." "People say there're the names and addresses of the exiled on them." "Perhaps Uncle Sandro has written his name, too." "My mother sent me to you." "Keti, get up!" "Hurry up, let's go." "Amiran Abashidze I've found it." "I've found him, mother!" "Mother!" "Sit down in the chair." "Would you like to smoke?" "Thank you, I don't smoke." "Believe me, your sincere confession will help to alleviate your lot." "The leader of the secret organization, Mikhail Korisheli himself, named you as one of its active members." "It's immoral to slander an honest man in order to extract false evidence." "Anything that is useful for the common cause is moral." "What good can the prosecution of the innocent do the common cause?" "There's irrefutable proof that each "innocent" is an enemy of the nation." "Like myself." "You don't believe me?" "How can I believe you when I myself was arrested on no grounds at all, for nothing." "And now you try to resort to any means to make me sign a false testimony." "False?" "And if we confront you with Mikhail Korisheli, what would you say then?" "Nobody will ever convince me that Mikhail Korisheli is an enemy." "If such honest people are being arrested, then you have to arrest the whole country." "Bring in Mikhail Korisheli." "is it true that you were a Pontoss spy?" "Yes." "What was your mission as an agent?" "I was to dig a tunnel from Bombay to London." "Who helped you?" " The entire group of conspirators." " Namely?" " How many people?" " 2,700." "You don't remember the names, of course?" "There's a list of the conspirators." "I think you can easily find it." "In what acts of sabotage were you engaged?" "To exterminate the population, we had poisoned corn sown." "Was Sandro Barateli a member of your organization?" "Yes, he was." "You two can talk." "I'll leave you alone for a while and be back after I see to my business." "Listen, Sandro." "I thought a lot." "I was thinking all nights through." "We must name as many people as possible as the nation's enemies." "They can't arrest them all." "And when the number of the accused reaches an astronomical figure, those at the top will think twice, convene an extraordinary assembly and expose all the criminals that have misled the government." "Do you understand, Sandro?" "This is tactics." "A cunning, crafty tactics." "We'll sign everything, we'll bring it to absurdity, to absolute nonsense." "We'll make thousands of absurd statements." "The tunnel from Bombay to London, and so on." "Eventually, the government will understand everything." "It will become indignant, get, with its iron hand, at the throat of the villains and destroy them." "I've been suggested all this by the wisdom of imagination." "Do you understand me, Sandro?" "We should trust no one, no one's deeds or words!" "We must be vigilant and know how to detect an enemy." "That's our paramount task." "And not an easy one, ladies and gentlemen!" "Even more complicated, because out of every three people, four are enemies." "Don't be surprised!" "Quantitatively, one enemy is more than one friend." "It's always been so." "And it's so today." "Our Motherland is in danger, ladies and gentlemen!" "Let our people become like a tight fist, like the Great Wall of China the enemy would be powerless to surmount." "It would also be appropriate to recall a Chinese wisdom." "Confucius said:" ""lt is hard to catch a black cat in a dark room." "Especially if there is no cat."" "No doubt, we're confronted with a most difficult task." "But there're no barriers we can't overcome." "If we want it very much... we will catch a cat in a dark room." "Even if there is no cat." "Nino!" "I'm glad you came." "What's the news?" "Wait, I'll find out everything." "3-1 7, please." "Nika, it's me." "Nino is here." "Any news about our men?" "Yes, I see." "All right." "Everything will be the way we want it to be." "Of course, the arrest of Sandro and Mikhail is a mistake." "We must summon up patience, both you and I." "You'll see, Nika will do everything." "They'll look into it and free them." "You must be strong, Nino." "Don't forget that you have Keti." "You're responsible for her." "I'm sure it will end well, everything will be all right." "They're bound to find the truth and set Sandro free." "I'm sure of it!" "Nino, I'm thinking now of your girl." "Keti must become a good citizen and an honorable woman." "Your misfortune must not lead her astray." "Don't forget that we're serving a great cause." "The future generations will be proud of us." "But since the scale of events is so grand, big mistakes are inevitable." "It may even happen that innocent people are victimized." "But I can already hear our favorite "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven which will surely sound all over the world very soon." "What happened, mommy?" "We have lost our father..." "What?" "They have blown up the church." "What's the use of knocking?" "There is no one there." "Yelena was arrested." "Don't you see that the apartment is sealed up?" "Yes, I got it." "I see." "I've brought them, esteemed Varlam." "Yes, certainly." "Yes..." "Goodbye." "Whom have you brought?" "Those Darbaisseli." "I've carried out your directive." "Which Darbaisseli?" "That you instructed me to bring." "I instructed you?" "Are you crazy?" "Esteemed Varlam, you told me to find and bring everyone by the name Darbaisseli." "Where are they?" "In a truck." "Let them go home at once." "I thought you'd thank me." "I brought you a truck full of enemies." "And you, instead of gratitude..." "For tracking down just one spy, Rictafelov got a flat and a raise." "Why are some people so lucky?" "!" "Do as I say." "Or you'll get behind the bars instead of them." "Let them go home now!" "Esteemed Varlam!" "Have I done all that work in vain?" "I've been chasing these damn people for a month, I got them all together." "Let's lock them up in a cellar, they may come in handy tomorrow." "Go apologize to these people, and set them free." "Then come back, sit at that table and write..." "At that table?" "And write your resignation." "But you know that I'm illiterate." "Get out!" "Don't let Doksopulo leave." "And you come in here." "Can you explain what it all means?" "Doksopulo dear, please, go in." "All right, the hell with you and with them!" "Arrest them all." "Thank you, esteemed Varlam!" "Don't be afraid and listen carefully." "Tonight they will come for you." "Here's some money and train tickets." "Hurry up, you may still manage to save yourselves." "Mommy, who was that woman?" "Keti, get ready, quick." "We have to leave!" " Where are we going?" " To the country." "To the country?" "Yes, to the country." "Hurry!" " Will we be back soon?" " Yes." "Peace onto this house." "Are you Nino Barateli?" "Yes." "Keep your hands off!" "Let her go!" "Mommy!" "Mommy!" "Keti, don't be afraid!" "Mommy!" "Nino Barateli bid farewell to her past." "That's the end of my story." "On behalf of everyone who was unjustly punished, I demand" "that Varlam Aravidze be dug up from his grave by his own relatives." "I protest!" "All you've heard here is a lie and slander!" "Slander?" "Prove that it's a slander!" "You mean that the deceased should not be buried?" "No, you must not bury him!" "Let the carrion crows tear him to pieces!" "Burying him means forgiving him, shutting our eyes to everything he had perpetrated." "I publicly declare once again:" "if you don't dig him up, I will get him, I will not leave him in peace!" "She's crazy, ladies and gentlemen, she's absolutely crazy!" "She doesn't deserve a trial." "She's insane, she can do anything, bitch!" "Leave the court immediately!" "Leave it?" "And you sit here, gaping and listening to that fool!" "We haven't come here from the moon, either." "We're not idiots!" "Any questions to the defendant?" "Then this court is adjourned for today." "No one is without sin, my boy." "We all were born in sin." "Help me, Tornike." "The sun is rising!" "The sun!" "Don't be afraid, Grandpa. lt's dark in here, you can't see anything." "There, a ray!" "Do you see it?" "What does it want from me?" "Why is it pestering me?" "Let's black it out, or else I'll bleed up." "Why will you bleed up, Grandpa?" "Look at my fingers." "Do you see blood trickling down?" "When the sun rises, I start bleeding." "Let's black the light out, quick, or I'll lose all my blood." "Stop it, Grandpa!" "Stop it now and calm down!" "Why are you pestering me?" "Why are you prying into my soul?" "Why all this soul-searching?" "I'll have you put out in a moment!" "I'll have you extinguished!" "You see?" "I've blacked it out." "It went completely out." "Grandpa is dead!" "Mother!" "Mother!" "Grandpa has died!" "Dear Guliko, I'm sorry I have to leave you." "They say my father was a bad man, I'm going to dig him up!" "Did you know about all this?" "About what?" "About Grandpa." "Your grandfather did nothing wrong." "That was a very complicated time." "It's difficult to explain it now." "What time has to do with it?" "A lot!" "The situation was different." "The question was to be or not to be." "We were surrounded by enemies." "They were fighting against us." "You want to say that we were supposed to pat the enemies on the back?" "But Barateli wasn't an enemy." "He was." "He may have been a good artist, but he didn't understand many things." "I don't mean to say that we made no mistakes." "But what is the life of one man when the happiness of millions is at stake?" "We were confronted with great tasks." "One should remember this and be more broad-minded." "You measured human lives arithmetically." "The most important thing was to keep it in proportion, right?" "Spare me your irony, smart guy!" "You're old enough to know that for a public servant, public interests should always be above personal considerations." "Yes, above personal considerations!" "Man is born a human being, he becomes a public figure later." "You have your head up in the clouds, but reality is different." "Varlam was always guided by the interests of society." "But sometimes he had to act against his will." "And if he were ordered to destroy the world, would he have done it?" "You know what?" "Your grandfather never killed anyone with his own hands!" "And you did fire at a human being!" "What kind of morals you're talking of?" "I didn't know who I was firing at." "What difference does it make?" "You did fire at a human!" "Yes, I did..." "And it makes our guilt even worse." " Whose guilt?" " Grandfather's, mine, and yours." "What do you blame me for?" "Forjustifying grandfather and for following in his steps." "You're a worse murderer than me, because you don't pity that woman." "Why should I pity her?" "Are you out of your mind?" "You'd rather strangle her than ask her forgiveness." "I couldn't imagine that you were such an idiot!" "She digs up my father from his grave, and I'm supposed to apologize?" "Yes, I will strangle her, and you too, if you don't come to your senses." "I shall not let her desecrate the deceased!" "I hate you." "I hate you!" "No one is without sin..." "We all are born in sin..." "A young man's psyche is very unstable." "Depression, insomnia, the disruption of the daily routine..." "Even a grown-up would get depressed seeing a dead man every day." "He needs rest." "This medicine should be given to him three times daily." "Tornike is a strong boy, don't fear for him." "A state of shock normally doesn't last long." "I think tomorrow he will already come into contact with you." "Of course, the court will pass some sentence." "But what am I to do?" "Keep burying my father every day?" "She will get what she deserves." "Come on, they won't give her as much as a year." "She'll get off with a fine." "What do you mean?" "Pay a fine, and you're immediately released?" "Oh God, the laws we have!" "We're being planted a dead man, and the culprit is not put in jail." "Abel, if I see the dug-up Varlam once more, I'll go mad." "I'm sure I will!" "Listen, old chap." "I'll send my boys after her and she'll become as meek as a lamb." "No, it won't work." "Worse luck for her, I'll stick her like a pig right on Varlam's grave." "Come on, cut it out..." "Abel, there's a limit to everything, you have to make up your mind." "Don't you understand that I'm losing my son!" "He almost went crazy when his grand- father died, and now another murder?" "Don't use our son as an excuse." "My boy is not a coward." "He was the first to attack that slut with a rifle!" "I understand you, Abel, you're protecting your son." "But one day he will ask you why you did nothing at all when his grandfather was dug up from the grave." "If you make a mistake now, he'll never forgive you." "Shall we try to settle it with her once more?" "Out of the question." "She went wild when she heard about the money." "It looks like she's really out of her mind." "Tell me, please, has her head been checked?" "Yes, she's all right." "The doctors' conclusion is one thing, and the facts are another." "You think her behavior can be considered normal?" "She's taken all kind of vengeance:" "she desecrated poor Varlam, she disgraced you in the eyes of the entire town." "What else does she want?" "It's obvious she's reached her goal!" "But she keeps saying: "l'll dig him up anyway!" She's absolutely crazy!" "It makes no difference now." "The expert established that she's sane." "Wait, wait..." "What do you mean, no difference?" "If the defendant is mentally ill, there will be no trial." "She will be sent to a hospital to be treated... forever..." " Wait, how do we do it?" " lt's very simple." "Mr. Dzhui, Abel's lawyer, will request another examination." " And who's the chief expert?" " Dorofey." "Did you hear it, Abel?" "Our Dorofey." "How come we didn't think of it before?" "No one could imagine it would go so far." "Your Honor, esteemed Prosecutor, our esteemed public!" "Be patient, we haven't started our work yet." "That's why I ask for your attention!" "This trial cannot go on." "The defendant is ill." "The medical experts' report is on file." "The medical experts' report is on file. item No. 76." "It says:" ""The defendant is not mentally ill." "She is a psychopathic personality prone to affecting acts."" "I ask you a question:" "Can such personality develop a delirious idea?" "It certainly can!" "Through the trial I've been listening carefully to what the defendant said." "Some moments of her unfortunate life story had moved me to tears." "But the defendant's persistent claims that even if she's given 100 years she will dig up the deceased anyway, the strange categoricalness of that declaration go beyond obsessive ideas and simply turn into delirium." "And delirium is a symptom of mental disturbance." "Meanwhile, the law forbids to bring a mentally disturbed person to trial." "It's necessary that our authoritative doctors and experts should have their say." "I earnestly request the court that the defendant be sent to a hospital for another examination." "Your Honor!" "I'm surprised at the superficiality of my colleague's reasoning." ""Can the defendant develop a delirious idea?"" "he poses an unexpected question." "And he answers it himself:" ""She certainly can."" "He paints the picture of a person possessed by delirious ideas, about whom it is written clearly:" ""She is not mentally ill."" "I hope my colleague will excuse me, but such perfunctory judgement of the fate of a long-suffering person is a patent sacrilege." "The severe mental trauma, the abnormal living conditions had affected the defendant's health and, as the psychiatrists say, deformed her personality." "But her vengeance is not the result of a decision nurtured for years, but a temporary insanity, not psychosis but a reaction of protest!" "Your Honor!" "The members of the jury!" "I'm not asking for your leniency, I plead with you to take into consideration all the aforesaid and, based on this, pass on the defendant the verdict of 'not guilty'." "O Lord..." "What is it, my son?" "I came to confess, Father." "I've been sinning, my soul is split in two." "Man has been split in two since he tasted the forbidden fruit and learned what's good and what's evil." "It's not a great sin." "It's not the split I'm speaking of." "My conscience is split in two, it's my conscience." "I'm preaching atheism while wearing a cross." "Perhaps that's why my life got so confused..." "After preaching atheism, it's good to go to church and confess your sins." "No, you didn't understand me." "I'm worried about losing, little by little, my moral principles." "I don't see any difference between good and evil any longer." "I've lost faith!" "Faith!" "What faith?" "I'm ready to forgive everyone and justify any loathsomeness:" "snitching, treachery, cowardliness, deception, baseness." "Then you're a Christ, my son!" "It's not for you to complain." "You're not lying, are you?" "No... it's an absolute truth." "You think so?" "Who are you trying to deceive, hypocrite?" "You will grind to dust anyone who stands in your way." "If you're struck on one cheek, you won't turn the other one, you'll strike back so hard that the other's neck is broken." "Your kind is not capable of splitting!" "You don't give a damn about good and evil." "It's not splitting you're worried about, it's fear that's killing you!" "What fear?" "You fear yourself." "All your life you've been after prestige, proud of your model family, and, suddenly, your world is collapsing." " No!" " Yes." "Your father is thrown out of his grave, you're losing your power, your only son rebels against you." "All that stood for the name of Abel Aravidze is slipping away from you." "And you're left alone, helpless and weak." " No!" "No!" " Yes, you're afraid!" "You're being eaten up by your fear of loneliness." "For a lonely unbeliever thinks only of death." "Yes, I'm afraid!" "I'm surrounded by emptiness." "All my life I've been trying to run away from it, pretending and lying." "Both my family and my work are just self-deception, for l am afraid to be left alone with myself." "Afraid to think." "About what?" "About what's most important." "Who are you?" "What do you live for?" "What's the point of your existence?" "Who are you?" "What did you live for?" "And you?" "And you?" "Who are you?" "Who are you, Abel Aravidze?" "Abel Aravidze, Abel Aravidze..." "Who are we?" "What did we come to this world for?" "Where are we rushing to?" "You know what?" "Forget all this nonsense." "Tomorrow everything will return to normal and you'll live as you used to." "Trying to atone for your sins?" "A coward, that's what you are!" "If it were up to me, I would have sent you right to Hell!" "Who are you?" "Who are you?" "Answer me!" "Didn't you recognize me, my boy?" "So you came to confess to the devil?" "Abel, what's the matter with you?" "What is this?" "What is it?" "There's no truth, it's the end..." "My life is over." "Are you all right?" "Take it." "Pull yourself together." "Everyone is looking at us." "What does the Prosecutor have to say?" "I demand that the case be re-examined, legally brought to trial, and henceforth be known as "Aravidze versus Barateli" case." "I'm telling you that Aravidze will not rest in the ground." "As soon as I'm released, I'll dig him up." "I hope that Ms. Barateli is not the primitive creature that believes it's possible to achieve a moral objective by an immoral act, by insulting a deceased." "It's possible, because Aravidze is not dead!" " You think... he's alive?" " Yes, he's alive!" "And as you defend him, he goes on living and corrupting the society." "Just a minute." "Excuse me." "So you're asserting that he's alive?" "Yes." "Your Honor, members of the jury, esteemed Prosecutor!" "I categorically demand that the defendant Barateli be sent to a psychiatric hospital for examination." "And I do repeat as categorically:" "the defendant is sane!" "This has been established by an expert examination and recorded in the report which is in the file." "What is the opinion of the jury?" "I think so, too." "It's the court's unanimous decision that this session be adjourned." "Goodbye, esteemed members of the court and esteemed public." "I'll dig him up anyway." "Evening, spring, and shadows clumping," "On the branch a bird is jumping." "May a new dream me enfold." "Moon has waned Earth to behold." "I'm Tornike Aravidze, Varlam Aravidze's grandson." "What do you want?" "I came..." "I came to ask your forgiveness." "I'm not the God to give absolution." "I fired at you." "I'm a murderer." "Oh God, what a fateful star I was born under, if I have made even you, an innocent boy, a murderer?" "Evening, spring, and shadows clumping," "On the branch a bird is jumping." "Are you making fun of me?" "I'm crazy, don't you know it?" "Crazy." "I'm really crazy." "Tomorrow they'll come, take me by my arms and drag me to a lunatic asylum." "A lunatic asylum?" "Father, what have you done?" "What does it all mean?" "What are you accusing me of?" "The court decided she's crazy and ordered to put her in an asylum." "I didn't ask them to." "She's not crazy, no!" "And she's not guilty." "The hell she isn't!" "For how long will you continue to live by lies?" "Because of that slut, you want me to dig up grandfather from his grave?" "Yes!" "It's all disgusting!" "I can't bear any more lies!" " Calm down, Tornike." " Leave me alone!" "Don't you feel ashamed of yourself?" "For the sake of your own well-being you're ready to cut anyone's throat, declare an innocent person a criminal, a normal one crazy!" "is there anything sacred for you?" "!" "Doesn't your conscience bother you?" "Do you know why grandfather hid in the bunker?" " Shut up, little viper!" " Because he was ashamed!" " Stop it, Tornike!" " Leave me alone!" "I hate you, I hate you all!" "This is not a home, it's a grave!" "Shut up, you shit!" ".." "You're not a man any longer." "Tornike, open the door now!" "Do you hear me?" "Tornike, open the door, I said!" "Tornike, open the door." "Open up." "Abel..." "To my dear grandson from grandfather Varlam" "May your name be cursed... as your life and deeds, Abel Aravidze!" "What have you done!" "Monster!" "May your blood... turn to water... and your bread... to dust!" "May your flesh... burn in Hell's fire... and not be honored... like your father... with an earthly burial!" "Why were you born... devil incarnate..." "Abel Aravidze?" "And why was your father born?" "And your son?" "It's grown so dark, it's pitch dark!" "Oh God, all this is so senseless!" ""Having fulfilled his duty, he passed away, a loyal son to his Motherland, an exemplary citizen and an irreproachable man." "May his blessed memory live forever in the hearts of his friends and comrades."" "So you knew Aravidze well?" "He was fifteen years older than me." "He would have been 78 now." "He had lived a big, eventful life." "He was a good man, a great man!" "But people say that his sins gave him no peace." "Not at all, my dear!" "People talk such rubbish." "There was no other man in the world as pure and sympathetic as he." "His only concern was how to be useful to people." "Excuse me, does this street lead to a church?" "I want to know whether this street leads to a church." "No, this is Varlam Street, and it doesn't lead to a church." "Then what do you need it for?" "Why have a road that doesn't lead to a church?" "With" "Veriko ANDZHAPARlDZE" "Boris TSlPURlA Akaky KHlDASHELl" "Leo ANTADZE, Rezo ESADZE Amiran AMlRANASHVlLl" "Amiran BUADZE Dato PAPUASHVlLl" "Shota SKHlRTLADZE Besso KHlDASHELl and others" "The End"