Made before Russia’s full-scale invasion, this story of a hippy who turns warrior after his wife is killed could not be more urgent but feels oddly cliched
This war movie from Ukraine was made before the full-scale invasion in February, and tells the important story of how Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting in eastern Donbas since 2014. Director Marian Bushan co-wrote the script with schoolteacher-turned-soldier Mykola Voronin, apparently inspired by some of his actual experiences. Their story inevitably resonates, but I watched it with the slightly sinking feeling of witnessing raw truth being fictionalised into bland drama with all the war movie cliches in the book.
Ukrainian musician and actor Aldoshyn Pavlo is a soulful lead as Mykola, a shaggy-haired pacifist hippy who teaches high school maths and physics. Mykola has moved to depopulating and deindustrialising eastern Ukraine to live off-grid in a rickety shed with his pregnant wife Nastya...
This war movie from Ukraine was made before the full-scale invasion in February, and tells the important story of how Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting in eastern Donbas since 2014. Director Marian Bushan co-wrote the script with schoolteacher-turned-soldier Mykola Voronin, apparently inspired by some of his actual experiences. Their story inevitably resonates, but I watched it with the slightly sinking feeling of witnessing raw truth being fictionalised into bland drama with all the war movie cliches in the book.
Ukrainian musician and actor Aldoshyn Pavlo is a soulful lead as Mykola, a shaggy-haired pacifist hippy who teaches high school maths and physics. Mykola has moved to depopulating and deindustrialising eastern Ukraine to live off-grid in a rickety shed with his pregnant wife Nastya...
- 9/27/2022
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
The formulaic action movie set-up and payoff to the Ukrainian war drama “Sniper: The White Raven” feel like they belong in a completely different movie than the rest of this arty character study, which follows a Ukrainian sniper as he defends his country and processes the death of his wife.
Lead performer Pavlo Aldoshyn, who stars as Ukrainian rifleman Mykola, provides the sturdiest bridge between the movie’s interstitial scenes – lots of slate-grey and brownish-green fields and bunkers – and its direct-to-video-worthy revenge narrative.
Aldoshyn’s restrained performance and his character’s sadly topical background sometimes add resonance to the movie’s generally bland scenario, which was co-written by Mykola Voronin, director Marian Bushan and script doctor Linda Seger. But “Sniper: The White Raven” doesn’t really say or show anything that you couldn’t also get from various “Rambo: First Blood Part II” and “Missing in Action” rip-offs.
Also Read:...
Lead performer Pavlo Aldoshyn, who stars as Ukrainian rifleman Mykola, provides the sturdiest bridge between the movie’s interstitial scenes – lots of slate-grey and brownish-green fields and bunkers – and its direct-to-video-worthy revenge narrative.
Aldoshyn’s restrained performance and his character’s sadly topical background sometimes add resonance to the movie’s generally bland scenario, which was co-written by Mykola Voronin, director Marian Bushan and script doctor Linda Seger. But “Sniper: The White Raven” doesn’t really say or show anything that you couldn’t also get from various “Rambo: First Blood Part II” and “Missing in Action” rip-offs.
Also Read:...
- 6/29/2022
- by Simon Abrams
- The Wrap
The world of mixed martial arts and the emotional terrain of war widowhood might sound like uneasy bedfellows, but Ukranian director Taras Dron makes a virtue of the backdrop for his inventive second feature, which won the best debut award at this year's Warsaw Film Festival. Yulia (Maryna Koshkina) is on the top of her game, in the physical sense at least. An Mma champ, she is surrounded by what, at least at first, appears to be a staunch set of allies at the training club she has been a part of since she was a teenager.
Dron doesn't waste time with setting the scene, instead dropping us into the run-up to a fight, so that we learn, by degrees, that her fiance Denys is missing, presumed dead, following the war in the east of the country and that someone else is now showing an interest. Yulia may be making tentative.
Dron doesn't waste time with setting the scene, instead dropping us into the run-up to a fight, so that we learn, by degrees, that her fiance Denys is missing, presumed dead, following the war in the east of the country and that someone else is now showing an interest. Yulia may be making tentative.
- 10/27/2020
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.