By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Valentyn Vasyanovych
Starring: Andriy Rymaruk | Lily Hyde | Liudmyla Bileka | Vasyl Antoniak
Country: ukraine
Year: 2021
Running time: 106
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10749786/reference
Michael says: “ATLANTIS is the Ukraine’s 2021 entry to the Oscars. A simple, straight-forward story that tells a grim tale set four years in the future with glimmer of hope in the form of love. While efforts are underway to keep Eastern Ukraine running after a particularly devastating war with Russia, there really isn’t that much left to salvage. Former soldiers Ivan and Sergei suffer from PTSD, and blow off steam with some target practice that escalates into a startling conclusion. The next day, Ivan commits an act that gets the factory they work at shut down. Sergei is a survivor though, and he gets a job delivering water across the blasted out, barren countryside because potable water is now incredibly scarce. On one of his sojourns he assists Katya, part of a project seeking to exhume the thousands of dead soldiers from the wars to identify and bury them. Sergei and Katya’s story starts off slowly but ultimately it’s the whole point of the film, and how even after the most damaging experiences there is hope.
“Writer/director Valentyn Vasyanovych has created a film that is bleak and difficult to watch at points, but there are moments of sudden beauty as well. Vasyanovych acted as cinematographer as well, and his post-war landscape is as post-apocalyptic as any I’ve seen. The pace of the film is slow, with static shots and slow pans. The building Sergei lives in is a hollow wreck, and he seems to be the only person living there. Later in the film, an ecologist that Sergei rescued tells him that he needs to leave Ukraine, that the country is literally dead and will take decades if not centuries to become inhabitable again. ATLANTIS is really a tale about what could cause a person to chose to stay in that type of environment. 4 3/4 cats”
Diane says: “Earlier this evening I googled best Ukrainian films to see how I might connect with Ukraine through cinema, at this horrible juncture. My choice was ATLANTIS, and I was just about to hit ‘play’ when Michael’s message came through. I had completely forgotten that it was a Chlotrudis nominee. I also recommend seeing it now. (Sound design is a standout, in addition to cinematography.) The use of master shots with lethargic action spoke to me of futility.
“I’m trying to be more educated in my viewing, and found this snippet from a review helpful (too bad I can’t find it again to give credit!):
‘The film establishes a visual style of meticulously composed
widescreen master shots, alternating fixed perspectives with
occasional camera movements orchestrated in long, fluid single
takes… It’s a rigorous aesthetic that seasoned festivalgoers and
arthouse patrons will immediately recognize (especially those familiar
with a certain strain of Eastern European realist cinema), and it’s
uniquely suited to one of the director’s chief aims here, which is to
convey a form of sustained, non-verbal communication among large
groups of individuals.‘
“I was tempted to go back and count how many (how few!) shots there were in this film. Thinking of some other standouts from this past year that rely on those languid widescreen master shots (DAYS, ABOUT ENDLESSNESS), I’m realizing how much I love them. I always think, “Don’t leave yet–I’m still looking.”