Yelnya, the 'Town of Glory' for Mother Russia
Yelnya, the 'Town of Glory' for Mother Russia
Masha, a teen girl, is determined to become something more. A documentary about patriotism versus propaganda, and pride versus poverty. It's a private war.
Yelnya is a poor town with 10,0000 people that’s 370km west of Moscow, close to the border of Belarus. It has a long military history, particularly for being the first Soviet victory over the Germans in WW2, and as a prep site to rescue the Russian-speaking people of the Donbas i.e., the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Although unsaid, documentarian Dmitry Bogolyubov is anti-Putin, and currently living in Israel. That doesn’t lessen insight into the sociology of a tragic place most Russians probably don’t know exists, let outsiders. Three years spent filming provides more than a snapshot into one of many towns left behind by the fall of the Soviet Empire in 1991.
Poverty isn’t a Russian thing so think of the homeless of San Francisco, or that almost half of South Africa is unemployed, before allowing bias to decide your criticism. For example, one could say that Masha is indocrinated but I believe that her doing the best she can trumps that. I’m torn between wanting to hug her, and hoping that she becomes a Colonel.
It's a bit rich for someone currently living in Israel to criticise others for indoctrination.
I found this quite moving. I became invested in the characters. I was bummed when Masha didn’t win her competition. I thought her Mom exerted too much pressure on her but realized as things went on that she was trying to prepare her for life in the best way she knew.
I didn’t think the bias really came out until the end. The guy who searched for bodies kind of dissed the government when he was drunk and the tenor of the ending was anti Putin. He did balance it with the mother who was very pro Putin. I enjoyed it very much though. I wonder what will happen to Masha so that’s the highest praise I can give.