August 16, 2024
FILM: IN THE REARVIEW
DIRECTED BY: MACIEK HAMELA
RATING: 4 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
There has never been a documentary quite like In the Rearview. Filmmaker Maciek Hamela records people in Ukraine who are being evacuated to Poland via a transportation service. The driver is the same but the country’s residents keep arriving at different intervals for their ride to safety. There are at least two cameras in the van which picks people up in a variety of Ukrainian villages. They all have one thing in common: to escape their war-torn homeland.
Hamela has wisely edited the recorded footage so viewers get a series of unique perspectives on what they are going through. This is a diverse bunch of people encompassing a wide range of ages. There are young children who know more about dying than the average westerner. One girl is so overwhelmed by the attack on her home that she can no longer talk. This is what makes the film so interesting. It is a study of ordinary people thrown into the worse imaginable circumstances. Yet their reactions vary considerably during this transportation out of the country.
Some sit with sad, contemplative looks on their faces. Some are calm, nonverbally worried, sullen, and/or forlorn. Then there are those who left behind what they consider to be basic necessities, such as their cell phone batteries and, in one case, a cow. Some discuss being interrogated. Others describe stories they’ve heard or seen of people being tortured, burned, or amputated. Some have witnessed Ukrainian boys being forced into Russian military service. Yes, many of the stories are quite horrific. But because the people being picked up are still in the midst of the war, they come across as relatively stoic, perhaps in shock. Some dream about the future “when the war is over” and they can jump into the calm waters of the sea or enjoy the safety of living in countries like Poland or France.
Of course, as they are discussing all of this (and mind you, some of the car passengers talk incessantly more than others) there is a country outside their windows filled with quiet farmlands, destroyed buildings and towns, as well as tank destroyed roads and forest trees. Often we see the car being stopped at various patrol points and we sit in fear of what may happen to these people we are only getting to know for a brief period of time.
I think what makes a film like this so exceptional is that it is serving up perspectives that we’ve never quite gotten like this before. Imagine hearing real stories from those being transported to unknown places during World War II or soldiers being sent into Vietnam for the first time. They don’t know exactly what to expect and they’ve left behind all of the comforts of home. In the Rearview allows us to hear these thoughts and insights from people during Ukraine’s war with Russia as it is occurring. There is not a lot of manipulation by the filmmaker, other than the occasional use of some foreboding music, to keep us out of the reality of each car ride. However, there are moments, stories, and close-ups used that can at any moment make a viewer want to cry out for this entire population. What they are going through seems incomprehensible in the 21st Century. Weren’t we supposed to be over this kind of warfare and inhumane behavior? Didn’t we learn anything from all the wars of the last century? That’s what is so disturbing and yet beautiful about this film. It captures the real human effects of these conflicts on everyday people that could just as easily be us instead of them.
This is a brilliant and much needed to be seen document of a very sad time in our world’s history.
In the Rearview played at the Chicago International Film Festival. It is premiering on VOD and digital streaming today.
FILM: IN THE REARVIEW
DIRECTED BY: MACIEK HAMELA
RATING: 4 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
There has never been a documentary quite like In the Rearview. Filmmaker Maciek Hamela records people in Ukraine who are being evacuated to Poland via a transportation service. The driver is the same but the country’s residents keep arriving at different intervals for their ride to safety. There are at least two cameras in the van which picks people up in a variety of Ukrainian villages. They all have one thing in common: to escape their war-torn homeland.
Hamela has wisely edited the recorded footage so viewers get a series of unique perspectives on what they are going through. This is a diverse bunch of people encompassing a wide range of ages. There are young children who know more about dying than the average westerner. One girl is so overwhelmed by the attack on her home that she can no longer talk. This is what makes the film so interesting. It is a study of ordinary people thrown into the worse imaginable circumstances. Yet their reactions vary considerably during this transportation out of the country.
Some sit with sad, contemplative looks on their faces. Some are calm, nonverbally worried, sullen, and/or forlorn. Then there are those who left behind what they consider to be basic necessities, such as their cell phone batteries and, in one case, a cow. Some discuss being interrogated. Others describe stories they’ve heard or seen of people being tortured, burned, or amputated. Some have witnessed Ukrainian boys being forced into Russian military service. Yes, many of the stories are quite horrific. But because the people being picked up are still in the midst of the war, they come across as relatively stoic, perhaps in shock. Some dream about the future “when the war is over” and they can jump into the calm waters of the sea or enjoy the safety of living in countries like Poland or France.
Of course, as they are discussing all of this (and mind you, some of the car passengers talk incessantly more than others) there is a country outside their windows filled with quiet farmlands, destroyed buildings and towns, as well as tank destroyed roads and forest trees. Often we see the car being stopped at various patrol points and we sit in fear of what may happen to these people we are only getting to know for a brief period of time.
I think what makes a film like this so exceptional is that it is serving up perspectives that we’ve never quite gotten like this before. Imagine hearing real stories from those being transported to unknown places during World War II or soldiers being sent into Vietnam for the first time. They don’t know exactly what to expect and they’ve left behind all of the comforts of home. In the Rearview allows us to hear these thoughts and insights from people during Ukraine’s war with Russia as it is occurring. There is not a lot of manipulation by the filmmaker, other than the occasional use of some foreboding music, to keep us out of the reality of each car ride. However, there are moments, stories, and close-ups used that can at any moment make a viewer want to cry out for this entire population. What they are going through seems incomprehensible in the 21st Century. Weren’t we supposed to be over this kind of warfare and inhumane behavior? Didn’t we learn anything from all the wars of the last century? That’s what is so disturbing and yet beautiful about this film. It captures the real human effects of these conflicts on everyday people that could just as easily be us instead of them.
This is a brilliant and much needed to be seen document of a very sad time in our world’s history.
In the Rearview played at the Chicago International Film Festival. It is premiering on VOD and digital streaming today.