I will depart from my usual format by fast forwarding saying my reaction to the film was upsetting and caused me to pace back and forth after the film attempting to process it. It was slow moving and quite like watching paint dry but when it dried, I was caught beneath it like a bug in an amber coffin struggling to escape quite like Taras (Roman Lutskyi) and Olio (Ira Nishi).
There is not much to be gained by details here other than saying Taras and Olio are newly married and settling down after a small wedding party of artistic type Ukrainian friends who are aware there are evil Russian winds blowing their way.
The winds strike and the wedding bliss is sent in a fast forward time machine in relationship years. They crawl around like petrified bugs in their flat like in Kafka’s novel “Metamorphosis” hearing shelling and individual rifle shots more attributable to executions than combat.
Their story is one of an eternal wait and how their idyllic relationship faces and endures the harsh reality of Russian imperialism. It is painful and slow but hits you with a mighty wallop.
It is the Russian attack of Ukraine, but it could be anywhere that war strikes.
We have seen news footage of the Russian destruction of the Ukraine, but this film gives it reality news footage could never convey.
If I can make a literary analogy, it would be Nevil Shute’s 1957 novel “On The Beach”.
The director is Zhanna Ozirna.
RKS 2024 Film Rating 94/100.
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