The Ukrainian film about the atrocities of war arrives in the room Reflection

The premise necessary before talking about Reflection is that any war film narrates and at the same time inevitably betrays the tale, settling on the level of fiction. Be wary of those who suggest films to "understand" a war. War, by definition, cannot be understood. At the most, it can be represented, more or less faithfully, to give back to the viewer - from the comfort of a cinema seat - the atrocities that every war entails. Atrocities that, however terrible, are always and in any case sublimated by the art of cinema and, often, also by the aesthetic pursuit of the powerful image.

Even when the style is very close to the documentary, as in the effective Reflection by Valentyn Vasyanovyč, a film of raw realism on the clash between Russia and Ukraine in February 2014, for the control of Crimea and Donbass. It is thrilling to see him again now, to hear in the first scene two men talking about this and that while behind them there is a pretend fight, with children playing in the war of colors (paintball). "How is it at the front? ”Asks the protagonist, the surgeon Serhiy (played by Roman Lutskiy). “Fucking shitty (fucking lousy - ed)”, replies Andrii, the ex-wife's new partner, much loved by his daughter.

If in that room you fight for pretense, a few meters away you really die. In the hospital, where Serhiy works, more and more victims arrive from the front. Bullets in the cynical world of adults are not colors, they claim victims and shed blood. The capture is only the beginning of the end. The protagonist, a volunteer party for the war in the Donbass and taken prisoner, will find out at his expense. His profession as a doctor saves him, so to speak. He is forced by the Russian military to check if his Ukrainian countrymen are still breathing after a series of tortures that are not spared the viewer. Blood flows freely, death comes as a liberation, friendly faces can be recognized on the torture table. The camera still captures the crematorium for the torn bodies, further on the camera - in the hands of the Russian commander - aims to obtain a false video testimony: freedom is paid for with lies. One admits to being terrorists, one swears falsehood and one is exchanged with others, like prisoners, like a handful of stickers.

The Ukrainian director follows the vicissitudes of his protagonist faithfully, recounting his drastic return to 'normality 'with the soul shaken by the torment of the survivor, the post-traumatic stress of the witness that can be clearly read on his face and, by contrast, the speeches with his daughter on the Buddhist principle of liberation from the prison-body. It is a film that hits the stomach, stuns, makes you think and is not easily forgotten, this Reflection. After all, the Ukrainian director has clearly stated that he is only aimed at one type of audience, the thinking one: «An audience that is not afraid to raise hard questions about heavy trauma, nor to seek answers»