Cinebuffs Recommends
"Good people become better, bad people become worse."
Shocking, frightening and sobering. Cinematically, this is a remarkable achievement, just on its own. The fact that this even exists is testament to the fortitude, perserverance and determination of not only the people making the documentary, but of those tasked with enabling and protecting them.
I was reminded by the opening scenes of Half-Life 2, as alien aggressors overrun the city and its inhabitants scatter in all directions out of terror and confusion, as opposing tanks in this all too real story trundle down the roads that children played on only days earlier, searching for Ukranian forces to kill, turning their guns at whatever moved, seemingly ambivalent to the innocent victims' plight.
Now I know how trite that sounds, comparing the very real horror of this war to a mere video game, but this goes to highlight my appreciation of not ever finding myself in this situation in real life and only having virtual fantasy in an environment so radically polarised to compare it to, for which I am eternally grateful. I can only imagine the despair, loss and grief of those people, just like you and I save for location, featured here.
I hope that the film does indeed win the Best Documentary Oscar at the upcoming awards ceremony, if for no other reason than to confirm just how essential this kind of film is, how priceless this kind of reporting should be recognised as, and as harrowing as it is to watch and witness, even with our cosy western perspective, how we should support everyone in need in the face of tyranny and horror perpertrated upon the innocent. At times, this can be described as just too harrowing to watch, but watch it you absolutely must.