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The intersection of the personal and the political is what drives the story of Klondike, the latest from Ukrainian filmmaker Maryna Er Gorbach. It’s a story about a couple who find themselves caught in the middle of the still ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, even experiencing an incident inspired by the shooting and crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. The very pregnant Irka (Oksana Cherkashina) is not intimidated by invading forces, she wants to stay put, while her very completely tired of everything husband Tolik (Serhiy Shadrin) wants them to leave, head somewhere safe so she can deliver the baby without any issues.
As much as war can be this colossal force of nature, life still goes on, and there’s other issues at hand that take priority, even if it may seem irrational at the moment. The film starts off with a very literal bang, as an explosion takes out a chunk of the couple’s living room, giving them a a rather nice view of the farm and land, which nears the Russia-Ukraine border. “They bombed my stroller! Where will I put my baby,” Irka shouts to Tolik as they try to get some cleanup going. There is a surprising amount of pitch black humor here, mostly revolving around the contrast between the mundane inconveniences that are ultimately rooted in something as big as the war itself.
But don’t mistake these occasional moments of dark humor in the film for being an overall lighthearted take on the conflict. Gorbach doesn’t pull her punches when it comes to the extreme emotional ranges you would expect from this conflict and showcasing some of the darkest acts that a man can commit. There’s several haunting sequences throughout, but it really is in the last act when it really hits home, both literally and metaphorically, the way war poisons everything it touches, no matter what side your on, whether you’re a soldier or civilian. It can be quite a gut-wrenching experience.
The film is mostly just Irka and Tolik, but we do get additional context and tension when we meet Yuryk (Oleg Scherbina), Irka’s younger brother, who has recently fought in Kyiv, and doesn’t vibe with Tolik’s attempts at trying to play cool with both sides, even accusing him at a certain point of having sympathies towards the separatist side. This does give the film more direct commentary as opposed to the more allegorical mode much of it seems to operate on, and it certainly makes for compelling drama, and an added wild card to the already intense situation.
Once it’s all said and done, Klondike proves to be a really effectively brutal and sobering look at life during wartime, and the way these kinds of conflicts effect people both participating in it, as well as those simply trying to live their lives. I haven’t seen anything from Maryna Er Gorbach prior to this, but the filmmaking here is quite strong, her editing is especially punchy and bold, but her collaboration with cinematographer Sviatoslav Bulakovskyi is also worth noting as well. It’s as grisly as it is beautiful to behold. The lead performances from Shadrin and Cherkashina are both fantastic, balancing the light absurdity with the grim reality of the situation, and Cherkashina in particular really shines, especially as the film enters the third act. It’s not a film about clear morals and easy answers, war does not really allow for such things, and that is very much reflected in the story and the filmmaking here. It simply leaves everything in ruins.
Klondike is now playing in select theaters.