‘Beginning’ Is An Acute Portrayal Of Religious Suffering [San Sebastian Review]

Boldy unfolding through a series of fixed shots, Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili’s debut feature “Beginning” is a striking portrait of a woman’s internal suffering at the hands of a husband who prioritizes religious devotion over marital equality. Taking place within a small congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Georgia, “Beginning” consists of roughly a week in the life of Yana (Mohsen Makmalbaf), wife to the congregation’s leader David (Rati Oneli, who also co-wrote). Disconnected from her own ambitions, and subservient to her husband, the subtle reawakening of Yana’s desires is told throughout the minimalist composition and plotting, as Kulumbegashvili structures her film around a series of dramatically escalating moments that give, and eventually take away, Yana’s autonomy.

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