СВОБОДА У ВОГНІ: БОРОТЬБА УКРАЇНИ ЗА СВОБОДУ (FREEDOM ON FIRE: UKRAINE'S FIGHT FOR FREEDOM)
It's the new documentary by Oscar-nominated director of "Зима у вогні: Боротьба України за свободу" ("Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom") Євген Афінеєвський (Evgeny Afineevsky).
Watchable. The 1 hour 56 minute long documentary charts the history of the country since the 9th century and of recent developments since the Maidan as well as the most famous incidents of the current war. I've seen some of the footage before. The film just collects it and puts in order to explain what and why. The invaders are abysmal. The documentary really nails the subject of disinformation on Russian state TV. While the film is hard-hitting at times, e.g. when a sudden blast takes place as they're filming or when you hear of scorched bodies and the guy casually mentions: "There's a hand? Do you want to see?" and the camera shows it, but it's often overtalked. Particularly annoying is obsessive and excessive talking about babies and children as if they mattered more than fully-abled adults that struggle through or aren't there any more. Everything is lucidly explained but the child level is too much of a bias.
EMPIRE OF LIGHT
Recommended. A quiet English town on the South coast, 1980/81 - punks, skinheads, still little traffic. It's mostly wonderfully British: chips, music, accents and the quaint feel of the seaside town. Underneath the turmoils of the country and of two individuals who got a raw deal in their lives form the plot. But all this is quiet, evocatively shot and the performances subtle. In spite of the story, it's soothing. The cinematography was deservedly nominated for an Oscar.
No comments:
Post a Comment