Exploring the Legacy of the Soviet Union Through Rezo Gigineishvili's Film "Patient #1"
Key Highlights :
The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 marked the end of an era, and the legacy of its oppressive rule still lingers in the former constituent republics. German director Werner Herzog is now championing Georgian film-maker Rezo Gigineishvili's movie Patient #1, which explores the dying days of the Soviet Union. The film follows a frail communist leader in the 1980s, who seeks answers to questions about Stalin's illness. Spurred on to live up to the dictator they called the Man of Steel, the general secretary brushes off his doctors’ concerns and orders to be driven to the Kremlin. But he dozes off before his limousine starts rolling, and the motorcade merely circles the hospital grounds, providing a melancholy image of a Russian empire locked in ever-repeating cycles of history.
Herzog's foundation is awarding Gigineishvili's second feature its annual €5,000 prize at a ceremony in Munich next week. The award is intended to reward directors, actors or film score composers ploughing a path outside the mainstream. Herzog believes the film captures something much deeper than a mere political debate, and that the Soviet Union's treatment of dying or dead bodies is indicative of a broader condition.
Gigineishvili conceived of Patient #1 during the first Covid lockdown, when newspapers were giving daily death counts and he was reflecting on the recent passing of his father. He was particularly struck by the Soviet Union's treatment of its leaders, as with Lenin's body, still on public display in a Red Square mausoleum. Gigineishvili believes that the Communist party created leaders that had to be treated like gods, and that this is reflective of the broader condition in the post-Soviet countries.
Herzog is reluctant to be drawn on the film’s contemporary echoes, but he expresses some sympathy for Vladimir Putin’s social reforms after the Yeltsin era. Gigineishvili believes that the parallels between the film and contemporary politics were incidental but also inevitable. He believes that in systems such as the Soviet Union, if you don’t have an honest answer to difficult questions, you just create an image of the enemy to cover up your guilt.
Patient #1 will receive the Werner Herzog film award 2023 at a ceremony in Munich on 6 October, presented by Werner Herzog, followed by its world premiere at Tallinn Black Nights film festival in November. Through this film, Gigineishvili hopes to investigate an experience shared by former constituent republics of the Soviet Union, and to explore the painful process of getting rid of the horrible legacy they inherited.
