Virtually since the cinema began, war movies have held a special place on the big screen (e.g., Saving Private Ryan, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon), the Academy Awards and in the imaginations of writers, directors actors, (e.g., George C. Scott) and audiences alike.
But here, all past productions can be put aside—paling in comparison as unvarnished truth trumps fanciful storytelling. For here is war in the first person—no holds barred. Here is real-time courage, death, destruction, madness and shame—shame that the so-called civilized world continues to “solve” its disputes with unspeakable terror, bloodshed and destruction on the battlefield in order to stroke/stoke the egos of the select few who cause the conflicts but never dare appear on the front lines.
2000 metres (~1.25 miles), doesn’t seem to be a long way to fight through in order to liberate Andriivka, especially symbolized as the Ukrainian flag is raised again once the motherfuckers (a.k.a. Russians) have either been killed or pushed back. Incredibly, it will take three months to complete this monstrous journey, but what could go wrong?
Drones from nowhere, near-impossible terrain, shallow trenches…
As with 20 Days in Mariupol (cross-reference below), director/writer Mstyslav Chernov embeds himself in the Ukrainian battalion tasked with cleaning out the enemy—from the straight-line forest route to the small but logistically important town (“forest” is being generous as most of the trees are bare limbed providing easy direction to the goal, but precious little cover).
Chernov’s camera (combined with body camera footage from several of the determined soldiers), leaves next to nothing to the imagination. Sudden explosions, round after round after round of gunfire doesn’t stint in capturing deaths on both sides of the conflict, making it, at times, difficult to watch but, sadly, necessary to truly understand just what transpires in 21st century armed conflict.
We meet new recruits (i.e., a 46-year-old husband who pleads with Chernov “Don’t make a hero out of me”—famous last words indeed) and a seasoned 24-year-old leader, Fedya, who dreams of a shower and sauna after the mission is accomplished and then returning to the fields of death and despair.
Other voices along the route: “I came to fight not to serve”, “None of us wanted to be a soldier” and, perhaps most tellingly (after a prisoner was captured) Soldier: “Why the fuck did you come here?” Prisoner: “I don’t know.” Like nothing else, that last exchange completely sums up the futility of solving problems and disagreements through brutal force rather than dialogue, reason and respect for our common humanity. Sadly, tragically using those important tools as the solution only seem to be utilized once one side or the other realize that the inciting goal(s) will likely never be achieved. From there, it’s all about saving face, rather than lives.
Chernov’s production ought to become required viewing for all armchair generals who take sides in any of the planet’s current deadly conflicts and then try to imagine themselves crawling through the forest—dead bodies all around—in order to plant a flag in an empty village. JWR