orange Sky

By Roman Tashleetsky, Kyiv

If you asked a Ukrainian about contemporary Ukrainian movies, the answer would be that there are none. How it happened that an independent state with a population of about 50 million people watches American, Russian, and any other movies but its own productions is another question. The state’s indifference to the problem in the form of insufficient backing of the industry and a lack of favourable legislation are among the main reasons.

Ironically, Russian cinematographers, who have substantial state support, have been coming to Ukraine to work at our studios and make their own films. Our actors, having no possibility to appear in Ukrainian films, work for them for smaller fees compared to those of Russian actors.

Ukrainian cinema is stereotyped by Ukrainians as being boring and obligatory, about historical events and traditional culture or too philosophical and sophisticated. The mass audience wants to see good quality but simple films connected with their everyday life. For this reason, the rare state-supported films, like Mamay by Les’ Sanin (nominated for an Oscar last year) and Mazepa by Yuriy Illienko, were highly evaluated by experts, but not popular. Cinemas didn’t screen them as they considered not commercial.

Given the situation, the fact that this spring three new feature films produced by Ukrainians and for private costs are scheduled to be released can be regarded as a breakthrough. This phenomenon can be explained by the colossal publicity Ukraine got during the Orange revolution, the subsequent world demand for information about our country and the fact that the current president, unlike the previous one, clearly stated that Ukrainian projects would get a green light.

The first of the three new films, Orange Sky, premiered on March 2 in all major cities in Ukraine. The film marks the directorial debut of Oleksandr Kyriyenko, who previously created video-clips and ads. The political journalist Yuriy Butusov is the film’s producer. The leading roles are played by the young actors Lidiya Obolenska and Oleksandr Lymarev. In various episodes, one can also see Yushchenko, Tymoshenko and Klitschko. The Socialist’s leader Moroz plays himself. The film’s budget of $500,000 is considerable for Ukraine.

As its title suggests the film deals with the 2004 revolution. Those dramatic events are a background for a not less dramatic love story between Mark, a ‘blue-white’ son of a Kyiv’s governor and Ivanna, an Orange activist from Lviv. They get acquainted at an electoral meeting where Mark is bruised by provacateurs. Mark is at the meeting by accident; his life centres on entertainment and he is totally disinterested in politics. After various adventures, the couple falls in love. Mark realizes that his former life was senseless and joins Ivanna in the town of tents in Khreshchatyk, Kyiv's main boulevard. He also refuses to go to study in London with his inane ex-girlfriend despite his parents’ insistence.

The movie is based on the true story of a son of a pro-Yanukovych Kyiv official who left home and spent the revolution at the Maidan. In addition, there are some secondary subplots about the lives of other ordinary people. 

Even though the plot can be reduced to a simple Romeo and Juliet story, the film is nonetheless interesting. It appeals to the nostalgia of those who witnessed the revolution and gives an idea of what happened in Ukraine to others. The film’s other attractions are its many humorous moments, cityscapes of Kyiv and the music. The numerous soundtracks are mainly by Ukraine's best rock-group, Okean Elzy. 

The film has its weak points, too. For example, many expected that the film would be in Ukrainian, however, some characters speak Ukrainian, some Russian, which is annoying. At times, actions are too passive and the dialogue unnatural, making it seem as if the filmmakers didn’t participate in the revolution themselves. The film also fails to express the scale of the events during the revolution. One doesn’t sense that hundreds of thousands of people were involved, apart from the ending where real archival pictures were used.

But let’s remember that it’s the first film of this type by young Ukrainian cinematographers, and being limited in their budget they did manage to make a competitive movie. The film has already provoked dozens of comments, both praising and criticizing, but the fact that the film wasn’t unnoticed is already a success. Also, such countries as Poland, Belgium, Finland and Russia have already shown interest in Orange Sky.

In sum, Orange Sky heralds an optimistic future for Ukrainian cinematography.