directed by Olivier Sarbil
Since my last post was about the Deaf community, I’ve decided to continue this topic and recommend you one more film. This time, it’s a documentary that caught my attention during a festival and it was the first one I chose to see. Why? Because it tells the story of Viktor Korotovskyi, a Ukrainian man, presenting his everyday life during the Russian invasion of his country. I know that we’ve got many productions about the war happening there, but this one is quite unique because it’s told from the perspective of a deaf person. Viktor is a healthy and hard-working man, who wishes to support his nation and fight for Ukraine, just like other patriots there. However, no matter how much bravery and commitment he has to give, his lack of hearing becomes a significant problem. Perhaps in other jobs it’s manageable to co-work with such barrier, but not in the army. Hearing is extremely important on the battlefield, because each soldier has to be attentive and react as fast as possible, either it’s an order from the officer, an alarm or even a cry for help from another soldier. Even though it seems reasonable, during the documentary you may feel this hurtful injustice. Especially if you empathise with Viktor, who seems to be incredibly frustrated about the whole situation. And then you realise that there’s something worse than losing – it’s not being able to do anything. Despite your motivation and skills, you’re forced to sit and watch. And wait – either of victory or death. I’m aware that the story of Viktor is extreme, because it’s happening during an actual war, but this film should be a lesson to us all about the everyday life of people with different disabilities. We should understand that accessibility is horribly important, even if it’s for the minority. Once again, I totally understand the decision not to recruit a deaf person to be a soldier on the battlefield, because it’s dangerous and irresponsible. Still, adding subtitles to videos is not a big deal, and it already makes a difference. Building a ramp or putting a piece of information about the accessibility of the place? Also not so difficult, yet how helpful! Not rejecting people based on their disabilities but purely based on their actual skills? How simple! If I had to describe this documentary with one word, I’d say “helplessness”. And I believe it’s the most disgusting feeling you may experience. So let’s try not to make others feel this way, shall we? Also, except the story itself, this film is beautiful. I loved all the shots, the camera work, even the black and white pictures (even though I’m not such a fan of it nowadays). In fact, one of the producers is Darren Aronofsky and you can definitely see a pinch of his mind there. Sometimes, I even forgot I was watching a documentary, so if you’re not a fan of classic documentaries, this one should catch your attention. And of course – Slava Ukraini!
My rating: 7/10
S.
I have nothing to watch 