- Date of Release: 29 December 2023
- Genre: Documentary, War
- Language: Russian / English
20 Days In Mariupol
Introduction
I usually start a film review with a little playful tone but not with this one! It has been a couple of hours since I have finished watching the film 20 Days In Mariupol which marks Ukraine’s Official Submission to the Academy Awards this year. And I have barely spoken to anyone since! Over the past two hours, it didn’t matter to me on if the film would lift the coveted trophy or whether there is enough buzz surrounding a film slated for the Oscars. What mattered to me was millions of folks who may have or have been suffering from the atrocities of war even as humanity fails to learn from several of its past mistakes. And while I was continually sending thoughts of positivity and peace to end the year 2023, I couldn’t be more grateful of the life that I have been living(touchwood) particularly in times when war has affected the basic necessities of people across the globe. The following review are just my two cents on a rather disturbing documentary, perhaps one of the best that I have watched this year, 20 Days In Mariupol, a film that I will never revisit ever!
Story & Screenplay
We all are aware of the ongoing conflict leading to a war between Ukraine and Russia with the latter invading the former amidst much unrest amd chaos. And while all of us had our ‘expert’ opinions on the same while being presented with a rather sanitized picture of Ukraine in the mainstream media, a group of journalists were in the war zone as they captured some haunting visuals along their 20 day stay in Mariupol, a city in Ukraine. And this is their story!
There have been so many accounts of war that are recreated either into flashy potboilers or into films that at times glorify the act with its action set pieces in full glory. Yet, very rarely do you stumble upon something as hard-hitting and gory as 20 Days In Mariupol, a documentary that has actually captured the plight of the people in the war-torn nation, this while the ongoing war continues to plunder the buildings and reduce the city to rumble while separating families across the country. Given that the Russia-Ukraine war is a very recent memory(and ongoing too), the impact of this staggering documentary was ten fold as I sat there watching a terrifying picture unfolding before my eyes in what may even have been just 10 percent of the actual damage that may have transpired. This as the documentary navigated through the hospitals and basements while capturing some images worth a million nightmares!
The Images
While we are on the topic of images speaking a thousand words, there is absolutely no remorse shown while sanitizing the picture. And so the haunting images include people being injured/killed due to the shelling with actual blood being shown splattered all over the place. But some images that will haunt me are a father grieving while holding the lifeless body of his 16 year old son who had passed away while playing football when a shell plundered the nearby vicinity. Elsewhere, a mother is shown grieving about her 18 month old daughter(let that sink in for a minute)….in what formed a horrifying visual while being absolutely heartbreaking(as they say the worst pain for parents is to see their children dying in front of them whilst they are alive). Another heartwrenching visual was of a pregnant lady who was carried out on a stretcher, only to be told that she did not survive and neither did her baby(while being labeled by Russians as a ploy by Ukraine in faking deaths with the use of ‘actors’ which would further instigate folks from their nation in order to build hatred towards them).
In a reverse case, was a young boy, now homeless after a missile attack that ruined his house, as he lay screaming for his mother who may or may not be alive. Also, a mother grieving the death of two of her children, one a seven year old girl and a five year old boy while tightly hugging her third child at a hospital which would soon be under siege. But what absolutely gutted me was the lifeless body of a baby who had died just days after being born. And while all of this was gut-wrenching, there was a little miracle of a baby being born against all odds and letting out a first cry, and that was such a precious moment….but the question remained, for how long?
My Take
As I am currently penning this review, there are two ongoing wars taking place across the globe, one between Ukraine and Russia, and the other between Israel and Gaza(Palestine). This while there are innumerous civil wars transpiring across the globe. And watching this documentary made me realise on what adverse effects there can be on mankind, often bringing out the worst in individuals. Here too we did see people blindly robbing shops in the wake of the attacks. And while geo-politics is a tricky subject, it often stems out of a state of power and the will to exercize control, often by meek men who are spineless and pretty much cowards. Yes, war is wrong and if anyone were to tell you otherwise, do not believe them!
I am often a believer of Karma and I see people questioning(at times me included) on why a huge pandemic like Covid-19 created sych panic and havoc. And while the conspiracy theories around it might be rife, from the point of view of Karma, I feel one of the major reasons behind it was that humanity has failed to learn from all its mistakes. History has already taught us on why war is wrong, but the question remains….have we learnt anything from it? Is there no moral compass to find solutions to problems? Is this the world that our children deserve, some of whom have already been suffering as seen in this documentary. What is their fault in the war between nations? Can there not be universal brotherhood and learn things from countries like Bhutan?? There is indeed lots to ponder upon as we make our way to the new year 2024, another year with the same set of issues to learn from.
I shall leave this here but before that a quiet little thank you to the millions of helpers including journalists who do strife to paint the picture of reality. And even though they are in the minority amidst the media circus across the globe, they have proven that there can never be a substitute for the truth despite the majority calling things ‘fake’ and ‘baseless'(to suit their agendas and personal narratives). And amidst all this, I am grateful for the life that I am living and for food on my table(touchwood), have never felt more thankful as I have tears in my eyes while typing this.
Conclusion
Ukraine’s Official Entry to the Academy Awards this year, 20 Days In Mariupol is a haunting and gut-wrenching picture of life inside the besieged city of Ukraine that is worth a million nightmares. A documentary that comes with my highest recommendation(higher than highest, quite honestly).