Movie reviews

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL

ЗАБОРОНЕНИЙ (STUS)

Recommended. Initially, the colours look like Technicolor from a few decades ago which is pleasing to the eye and in line with the time of the events. Entertainment, including just one brief scene of fantastic dancing, mixes with the poet's experience of surveillance. When the story takes a much darker turn, you learn a lot about KGB methods. Engaging, clear structure, touching at times, with a number of little twists of action and great music. The very ending commemorates those who died for Ukraine.

From the meeting with the director, Roman Bravko: It's the director's full-length debut. Earlier he had filmed Maidan. His drama stays very true to real events. He'd ring Lukyanenko and ask if it could have happened that way. The bed really fell and killed the poet - that's what they know from other prisoners. The legal counsel's words are in the case file. Stus remained sincere till the end which was inconvenient to the authorities because he couldn't be blackmailed. The state was afraid of Stus even when he was in jail. His words were as monumental as depicted. Stus's son was upset his father chose fight instead of family which is the most important thing to Dmytro. The producer wanted to remove the court scene but people wrote that Stus never caved in so they shouldn't either. Special services checked whether the producer wasn't coerced into the removal of the court scene. The Prime Minister also got interested in the scandal with the removal. Distribution depended on election results. The movie's had 100 K viewers, it's popular in Ukrainian cinemas, even though, lacking money for PR, news of the film has been spread by word of mouth. It's aimed at patriots, because if they had targeted it at everyone, they might have lost the patriots.

МОЇ ДУМКИ ТИХИ (MY THOUGHTS ARE SILENT)

Watchable. A satire where I saw humour everywhere, from making a parrot chirp to men using a lip balm, but nothing made me actually laugh, in spite of lots of skilled comedy acting. I can't put a finger on what was missing. Great music was one more element that made it thoroughly enjoyable. 

The lead actor is extremely tall for real.

UKRAЇNER. THE MOVIE

Recommended. The documentary gives you a chance to observe daily life in Ukraine. While the country lags a good few decades behind Poland, it's verdant and simple life has its charms. I loved the cat "charging up" lying on a charger. Accompanying music combines folk with modern styles. When it ends, you wish it lasted longer.


WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL

폴란드로 간 아이들 (CHILDREN GONE TO POLAND)

Recommended. Hard-hitting, touching, informative and very humane. Not only did the war orphans have parasites, the doctor discovered every other kid had been kidnapped from South Korea. Soldiers would just bring them North during combat. Also, most of the orphans first spent 2 years in horrific conditions in the USSR. History of Warsaw and Pyongyang both destroyed in war were very much alike - the director puts pictures of ruins next to each other to highlight that. Historical memoirs combine with stories of contemporary North Korean refugees. It turns out, the runaway's family gets a lower sentence if the person has run to China than if they have run to South Korea. It's frightening when a female refugee doesn't want to tell about her experience of China.


UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL

BLOCK OF ANIMATIONS

КРАМНИЦЯ СПИВОЧИХ ПТАШОК (THE SHOP OF SONG BIRDS)
IF YOU CAN
ДАХАБРАХА - МОНАХ (MONK)
ANNA RAYNER - DARKEST OF BLUE
TIK TU - KOTKY
САМА СОБІ ТУТ (HERE BY HERSELF)
МАРИ
КІНЕЦЬ (THE END)
ELUVIUM - REGENERATIVE BEING

All watchable, "If you can" recommended. All the 9 short cartoons for adults are similar: rudimentary animation, mechanic movements, no words - forces you to think. Only "If you can" breaks the silence (not counting sound effects) with the brilliant quote from Winston Churchill which tells you how dogs surpass people in what we call humanity.

КАКОФОНІЯ ДОНБАСУ (THE CACOPHONY OF DONBASS)

Recommended. An excellent documentary about the modern history of Donbass. Explains the situation well. Devastates you at the end when you hear first about "twisted" people employed to torture insurgents and next about ordinary people on the street all too eager either to sexually abuse - men, or kick and punch - women. The final line about 7 billion humans and so much aggression is certainly food for thought.


WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL

 흩어진 밤 (SCATTERED NIGHT)

Watchable. An engaging family drama in which the 10-year-old's remarks put an angle to the situation. She's an amazing actress too. The picture's mundane but I enjoyed the calm way of resolving the issue.


UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL

ДИКЕ ПОЛЕ (THE WILD FIELDS)

Watchable. Interesting at first, when the protagonist rediscovers his home countryside after years. But later it turns into a ridiculous gangster wannabe-comedy. Resembles Polish films from the 90s.

МІФ (MYTH)

Watchable. A thorough picture of an opera singer and freedom fighter, cleverly questioning the cause of his death: accident, suicide, fate, selling his soul do dark forces? Still, Vasyl Slipak's larger than life image makes this true story feel fake. It does make sense his full-heartedness in each of his life endeavours made him drop his girlfriend for his new passion - homeland. Yet the poses he takes in the pictures don't endear him to me. It's a very good documentary whose protagonist, however, deprives it of a deeper sense or emotion.