Східний фронт
Východní fronta
Opisy(1)
Kyiv, August 24, 2022, Ukraine’s Independence Day. A burnt-out tank on a deserted street. A voiceover tells us: “This is the central axis of the capital of Ukraine. This is Russian military equipment. This is not victory yet.” Half a year has passed since the whole world became aware of Russia’s attack. It actually began in 2014, but many did not perceive it as such at the time. This is also explained by the voice in the commentary that belongs to Vitaly Mansky. The other director, Yevhen Titarenko, captures an insider’s images which reveal precisely what (this) war means. He has been with the “Hospitallers” volunteer medical battalion since 2014 and is now on full duty. He and his eight-person brigade encounter cows that are sinking in mud, dogs that have gone feral and people in close proximity with death. The shift from scenes on the frontline in the east to home leave with the family in the west, where questions are asked and conversations held (and where the men deposit their sperm for posterity), make the scenes on duty seem almost like memories. At times disturbingly raw and direct, yet always enlightening, this film shows in close-up how a nation is fighting for its survival. (Berlinale)
(więcej)Materiały wideo (1)
Recenzje (1)
No, this really isn’t just a collection of vlogs. In fact, Manskyj elevates Titarenko’s raw footage of hell and limbo into an artfully rhythmic and graduated account of the war’s impact on the ordinary lives of a few volunteers in a medical unit. At the same time, he manages to sneak in a full range of interesting secondary topics, dominated by his long-time obsession with “the traces of empire”, into the regular alternation of footage from the battlefield and documentary scenes from the rear. The infernal scenes from the front form a chilling counterpoint to the raw testimonies of Ukrainian and Russian identity from the idyllic environment of the rear. The quiet power of Eastern Front consists precisely in the fact that it does not try to stylize or incite, but instead lets authentic scenes and utterances resound. After the initial feeling that it was going to be nothing more than topical reporting, I left Eastern Front with an oppressive, hopeless feeling that endlessly scrolling through Twitter videos doesn’t really provide. This is the kind of documentary that was needed!
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Galeria (6)
Photo © Budapest Nemzetközi Dokumentumfilm Fesztivál
