A priest curses God to find Him again — Russian spiritual chaos at its finest.
The film is based on the story by L. Andreev "The Life of Vasily of Thebes" about the fate of the village priest Vasily, who, after going through a great many misfortunes, renounces God in order to regain his true faith through even greater grief.
Acting
Baluev's volcanic descent from piety to blasphemy — absolutely unhinged.
Direction
Shinkarenko frames despair like a religious icon coming alive to scream.
Director
Dmitri Shinkarenko
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Leonid Andreev's 1904 story was considered blasphemous by both Orthodox Church and Soviet censors, making this 1990 adaptation its first legal Russian screen treatment.
Baluev reportedly refused to speak to crew between takes during the renunciation scene, staying in a state of 'spiritual hysteria' for three days.
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