Brigands, Chapter VII(Brigands, chapitre VII)

History often repeats itself, in ways that can be both beautiful and downright evil. Cutting backward and forward across the centuries, this biting satire and dark, desperate comedy moves from a medieval kingdom to a communist state under Stalin’s rule and a modern city during the liberalising period of the 1990s, showing how the power structures in Georgia have hardly any changes. Switching freely from a bellicose king to a modernday pickpocket, played by the same ensemble of actors, the unbridled structure of this absurd comedy allows plenty of scope for the director’s savage irony, merged seamlessly with his bleak, mordant view of mankind.

Venice Film Festival: Grand Special Jury Prize