VIKTOR
Viktor wants to be a soldier, but his deafness prevents it. His late father instilled “the military spirit,” and by Miyamoto Musashi’s canonical The Strategy of the Samurai, Viktor aspires to a noble warrior philosophy. Facing rejection after rejection, he finally convinces the local army to take him on as a volunteer field photographer. This opportunity to pursue his talent changes his path forever.
Viktor poetically narrates his thoughts. It is like a love letter to his deceased father. The audio comes in dynamic forms, hyper-augmented and muffled. It is the way our protagonist receives the sound. Director and veteran war photographer Olivier Sarbil hired the sound design team that worked on TIFF ’19 Platform contender Sound of Metal. It creates a dazzling effect, placing the viewer in Viktor’s body and mind, if only for 90 minutes.
The score is haunting and melancholy. The stunning black and white cinematography mirrors Viktor’s still photography on the Nikon, often slung around his neck. Footage of the first attack on Ukraine by Russia is visceral in a way that caught me off guard despite knowing it was coming. Viktor and his mother hunker in their basement as air raid sirens wail overhead. Their anxiety is palpable. That is merely the beginning.
The cinematic style of the film is jarring but magnificent. Sarbil utilizes classically powerful angles and breathtaking closeups. It is almost easy to forget it is a documentary. Remembering rekindles the tension and fear.
The film dives into disability discrimination and the chaos of armed conflict. The final scene is perfection. VIKTOR is an exquisitely crafted war diary through a unique lens and perspective.
Fusing rigorous reportage with innovative cinematic subjectivity, this bold documentary from veteran war photographer Olivier Sarbil is a uniquely intimate portrait of a Deaf person’s experience of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Memory preservation, emotional resonance, exploration, and exposure of truth, FANTASTIC MACHINE
The power of curated messaging in politics is something we know well. The film features a breathtaking 1993 interview with a filmmaker that changed the face of WW2 and modern-day filmmakers. In 1934, The Nazi Party hired Leni Reifenstahl to show the movement as powerful and attractive. She speaks about the entertainment factor, how a two-hour speech must be compressed to five minutes with a beginning, middle, and thrilling middle, despite the subject. As I witnessed the pride in her technical work, my mouth was agape. Juxtapose those images with the Sidney Bernstein footage from the final day of the war in 1945. Charged with proving the atrocities of war ever existed, Bernstein brings humanity, suffering, and truth. In the end, it is a product. In most cases, it is void of morality.
Maximilien Van Aertryck narrates with a profound statement: “A lack of perspective can distort what the world looks like.” There is such a fine line between propaganda and truth. We are all too familiar with this tactic. The results of media manipulation are monumentally dangerous but immensely lucrative. Instagram is rewiring young brains in a similar manner fashion magazines impacted our self-esteem in the 90s. It, quite literally, changes brain chemistry. The editing from Mikel Cee Karlsson and writer-directors Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck is award-worthy. As the saying goes, they understood the assignment.
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