INTERCEPTED at AFI Fest 2024
By William J. Hammon, ActuallyPaid.com
It’s rare when a documentary relies so heavily on one singular production element to get its message across, unless of course the intent is to spotlight that very aspect. Think of something like 32 Sounds (which got shortlisted by the Academy last year) that was all about exploring different types of auditory experience, or Anselm, which leaned on 3D cinematography to give viewers the full scope of Anselm Kiefer’s artwork. That’s the task for director Oksana Karpovych with Intercepted, as the film is completely dependent on its sound design to be effective. Thankfully, the end result is technically superlative and a haunting experience for the audience.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is in its third year, with Vladimir Putin’s massive army still being stymied by a committed people protecting their sovereignty. It’s estimated that at least a million have died in this unprovoked genocide, and it’s impossible to tell how and when the war will end, especially since Ukraine’s biggest ally and arms supplier — the U.S. — is about to change leadership to someone who is decidedly pro-Putin.
The premise of Intercepted is simple. Visually, we see images of Ukrainians picking up the pieces. Military vehicles patrol ruined towns and battlefields, everyday citizens do their best to clean up the rubble and rebuild, and in some communities, you get the sense that life may one day return to normal as civilians do everything they can to carry on. Juxtaposed with these images is audio of phone calls from Russian soldiers to their families back home, intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence. These recordings run the gamut from those who delude themselves into thinking they’ll be welcomed as liberators and heroes, some who have doubts after fully believing the Kremlin’s propaganda about Ukrainians being Nazis, others still who don’t think Russia is going far enough and who celebrate how they rape and murder civilians, and those who see the entire campaign as a hopeless death sentence and don’t believe they’ll ever see home again because the country they invaded dared to resist.
It’s jarring in a lot of ways, and it’s a brilliant deconstruction of how war dehumanizes everyone involved, with the soldiers simply reduced to a voice on an audio recording. If you’re looking for a narrative, however, you won’t find one here. This is just 90 minutes of the images of war and the sounds of those carrying it out. The closest you get to any plot arc is a late recording of a soldier telling his wife that he’s probably going to die in his next battle, and making her promise to never let their son join the army when he’s of age. After she tearfully hangs up, we get a brief follow-up call from one of the soldier’s squadmates, telling the wife that her husband has been injured, and that he’ll do everything he can to get him to safety. If that doesn’t cut you to the quick, I don’t know what will.
Originally published at http://behindtherabbitproductions.wordpress.com on November 25, 2024.
