THE APOSTATE
Dir. Valeri Rubinchik, 1987
Belarus. 163 min

A scientist develops a method to clone living material. Before long, the government steps in to weaponize this discovery for their own gain. Five genetically identical presidents later, the implications of such technology have already spiraled out of control. Arguing with yourself, facing your own mortality, and questioning who you are have rarely been more literal.

It’s easy to see THE APOSTATE as a commentary on a country at odds with itself, a fracturing of identity, in the wake of the recent relaxations from perestroika two years prior. Rubinchik’s vision of the future isn’t exactly optimistic. A sense of doom, a mood suffused throughout Rubinchik’s late works, hangs over the film as earthquakes shake interiors, sea levels rise, and horse and carriages ride past imposing brutalist architecture.

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