Vissarion

Les Cloches des profondeurs est un documentaire d'investigation du réalisateur allemand Werner Herzog sur le mysticisme en Russie. Il est composé de plusieurs sous-parties, annoncées par des chapitres. Schématiquement, la première moitié du documentaire est consacrée aux guérisseurs religieux russes, tandis que la seconde partie s'intéresse de plus près à la légende de la cité perdue de Kitej.

A documentary on three men who claim to be the second coming of the Christian Messiah. An organic farming community in Siberia has evolved around a charismatic, but introvert man called Vissarion. His teachings focus on developing a society prepared to survive in a scarce future. In Brazil INRI Cristo, a simple but educated man has become a media phenomenon. While appearing in almost every TV show of the country he has built a safe haven for his mainly female followers. David Shayler is a former secret service agent in the UK who has become spiritual after going to prison.

Former police officer Jesus Vissarion is the soul of Siberia. His 4,000 disciples follow a strict regime of no meat, no eggs, no milk, no fish, no alcohol, no smoking and very little money. Filmmaker George Carey touches down in the obscure Siberian outpost of Minusinsk, just in time to join in the fun and frolics at Vissarion's big festival, taking place in Sun City, the new Promised Land, roughly 200 miles north of Mongolia. George is approached by Vissarion's closest apostle, a former rock singer called Vadim Redkin, who says he can take him to meet the great man...

In a remote area of Siberia, the world’s largest sect lives under the teachings of Vissarion, a man who claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus. Sveta has moved from away from St Petersburg and her ex-husband Magomed, and now lives in the community with her children, Danial, Mariam and Zaur, and her new husband, the Vissarionite bell ringer Dmitiri. Christ Lives in Siberia (Jeesus elab Siberis), by Estonian duo Jaak Kilmi and Arbo Tammiksaar, follows the daily lives of the children as they go to school and help out with community chores. As we go along, we discover more about them and what brought their mother to the community. Their lives are juxtaposed with that of Magomed, who writes letters to the Russian government in an attempt to get his children back.