Venice Films Expose Horrific Ukraine War, Man's Brutality
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published September 09, 2021 | 12:10 AM
Venice, Sept 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Sep, 2021 ) :The ongoing conflict in Ukraine's east is the subject of two films at the Venice Film Festival this year, underscoring the horror and futility of the simmering -- and largely forgotten -- war.
The festival also premieres Oleh Sentsov's "Rhino" about corruption in 1990s Ukraine, two years after the Ukrainian director was released from a Russian prison after being arrested for protesting the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
"Reflection", from Ukranian director Valentyn Vasyanovych, portrays the gruesome torture inflicted in secret detention centres by pro-Russian separatists in occupied Ukraine.
A documentary by France's Loup Bureau, "Trenches", follows Ukranian soldiers inside their tunnelled defences as they deal with anxiety, monotony, and unpredictable artillery attacks.
Since 2014, Ukraine's army has been locked in a protracted battle in the east with pro-Russian breakaway fighters, a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people.
"I was deeply affected by the fact that in modern Europe nowadays these cruel, totally inhumane things can happen," Vasyanovych told AFP Wednesday.
The torture -- which the United Nations said in July was occurring daily -- is "not less important than the war itself that's going on".
Using bleak, single-frame tableaus reminiscent of chiaroscuro paintings, Vasyanovych lays bare the torture inflicted on captured Ukrainian soldiers, and one former prisoner's journey towards healing and salvation.
After surgeon Serhiy (Roman Lutskyi) enlists in the war, he is soon taken prisoner.
After first subjecting him to torture, his captors rely on him to tell them whether other mutilated and barely recognisable victims of their torture are dead, or still alive.
In one powerful scene, Ukranian soldiers who have been tortured to death are burned in a mobile incinerator inside a truck labelled "Humanitarian Aid from the Russian Federation." - Spies and saboteurs - In Bureau's documentary shot mostly in black and white, front-line soldiers spend much of their time digging with pickaxes, carrying sandbags, waiting and worrying -- all between moments of fire from enemy trenches within eyesight.
The trenches' lone female soldier -- nicknamed Persephone, for the queen of the underworld -- says her fellow soldiers, the same age as her children, "look like grown-ups, but some of them are just kids.
"They simply don't understand that it's no picnic," she says. "They're on a frontline, there are bombardments, people die and others are seriously injured." Man's brutality is also a theme of the powerful period drama "Captain Volkonogov Escaped", by Russian directors Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov.
Like "Reflection", it is competing for the festival's top prize, the Golden Lion.
A captain, played by Yuriy Borisov, escapes from the state security services in 1938 Leningrad where he and his colleagues have been charged with killing "terrorists, spies and saboteurs".
"You know the times we're living in," the captain's superior tells him, to justify the gruesome torture used to exact confessions.
"Yes, they're innocent now -- but they'll be guilty later on."
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Tennis: ATP Barcelona Open results - 1st update
Swiatek's perfect 10 in Stuttgart as Vondrousova stuns Sabalenka
Arandu's roads closed due to flooding
Oil tanker catches fire in Islamabad’s Blue Area
Pakistan committed to ensure safety of foreign nationals: FO
Tennis: WTA Stuttgart results - 1st update
Four passengers injured as train hit an empty vehicle
Over- speeding bus crushed to death two bike riders
Turkey's Freedom Flotilla ready to set sail for Gaza
French teen dies from heart failure after knife attack near school
Iranians appear unfazed by Isfahan blasts
UAF celebrates Int'l Chinese Language Day
More Stories From Miscellaneous
-
Transforming education sector: from job hunters to job creators
21 hours ago -
Amjad Bobby remembered on 19th death anniversary for timeless contributions to music
5 days ago -
Legendary actor Nadeem’s 26 films released on Eid-ul-Fitr days in 50 years
6 days ago -
Besant Hall Cultural Centre to celebrate evening with Sanam Marvi on 26 April
6 days ago -
Radio Bahawalpur presents program “Eidi Shidi”
9 days ago -
Radio Bahawalpur to broadcast Eid programs
11 days ago
-
DC, DPO Haripur inspect bus terminals to review fares compliance
13 days ago -
Second phase of refugees’ repatriation to start after Eidul Fitr vacations
13 days ago -
Reaping bounties as Ramazan culminates
13 days ago -
Digital transformation – a boon or bane
13 days ago -
Plants’ business: Another casualty of climate change
15 days ago -
Eid shoppers prioritize children’s joy over personal comforts
15 days ago