By John Corrado
The latest work from Ukrainian filmmaker Valentyn Vasyanovych, To the Victory! is an interesting and narratively playful portrait of life finding a way in an imagined post-war country, and also a meta-textual look at an artist trying to use the decimated backdrop to create something.
Vasyanovych stars in the film as Roman, a struggling film director who we first meet trying to record a dramatic scene with his teenaged son (Hryhoriy Naumov). The teen boy serves as reluctant actor, but the scene serves a deeper purpose of trying to bond with the kid. Roman’s wife (Marianna Novikova) and daughter left for Vienna to escape the Russian occupation, but now might not return.
Vasyanovych’s film unfolds through a series of long takes captured in unbroken wide shots, as Roman tries to craft a new film with his producer Volodymyr Yatsenko (playing himself) and best friend Vlad (Vladen Odudenko). These tableaus range from dramatic to absurdly comedic, as the filmmaker sets his story in a near-future where the war is over, but the country is still trying to piece itself back together.
Moreover, it’s a portrait of a man trying to pick up the pieces of his own life, and using film as a coping mechanism. This melding of documentary-like storytelling gives the film its own unique rhythm, at times feeling inspired by Jafar Panahi, other times the working class character portraits of Aki Kaurismäki. If it can feel a bit structurally loose, the individual sequences themselves are often engaging enough to watch unfold.
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