Few topics are as well documented yet remain as difficult to understand as war. So this film, based as it is on an unusual and very 21st-century source – cell phone calls between front line soldiers and loved ones – is a welcome new contribution.
The film juxtaposes these communications between Russians – intercepted by Ukrainian forces during the current conflict between the two – with footage from the war-torn landscape. Wind blows curtains through the shattered windows of hurriedly abandoned apartments; bomb craters puncture intersections with brutal randomness; blown-out tanks remind of savage times on quiet country lanes; the elderly eke out daily lives amid living ruins. Haunting electronic soundscapes add a sense of both desolation and foreboding.
Despite a scant storyline and little logic in the pairing of audio files and footage, a narrative emerges. Torture, death, and gore intertwine with bravado and despondency. But most soldiers seem to know they’ve stepped over a mental line and will never heal – should they ever make it home. Few believe they will. Their war is not the one used in the government propaganda to maintain bloodlust in Russian homes. Yet for some, the brainwashing helps the illusion of a just cause – backed up by dehumanizing racial slurs, frenzied talk of Nazis, and excuses that civilians chose their fate by staying. All ring hollow to the onlooker, making these combatants start to appear victims too.
This is your own conclusion to make, for the film doesn’t use any narration or scripted dialogue. Yet it’s not quite a silent witness either. The Ukrainian director’s invisible hand is ever-present in her selections from hundreds of hours of audio clips and footage – as discussed in the Q&A after the film.
The process left its mark: from wanting to believe this was Putin’s war she came out believing it much bigger than that. A sad and terrifying conclusion, but perhaps films like this will remind bloodthirsty nations everywhere of the vicious double-edged sword of war. That those who live by the sword die by it too.
This makes the film a very important watch indeed – and good news that it’s on general release come January 2025.
Interceptés is at the RIDM which continues to December 1. For more info on Intercepts, click HERE.
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