My Absolute Cinema Speaks in Suriga: A Review of You Are Space

Are you buckled in? Look out the window and enjoy the views of the immaculate Ukrainian space as we head to Jupiter to do the work of an interdimensional trucker.

And while the atmosphere turns into an endless ocean of stars before your eyes, listen to one of the best films in Ukrainian and world cinema.

Why are these words so loud? Because this ratio of invested money, effort, passion, attention, comedy, tragedy, skill and soul, in my opinion, is unique and forms a story that keeps you enthralled from the first to the last frame, and even afterwards, it leaves a bittersweet aftertaste of reflection for a long time.

And now let's talk about everything in turn...

PHOTO: trailer for the movie You Are Space

Budget.

31 million 67 thousand 773 hryvnias. According to Vitaliy Gordienko'scalculations, this amount of money is enough to shoot 49 seconds of Interstellar. I was sincerely impressed by this figure, because every frame of You Are Space looks extremely valuable. Not expensive, not neat, not flawless, but valuable. Every frame is thought out to the smallest detail: foreground, background, background - everything is alive, dynamic, real. And although the events take place in a very limited space and the viewer spends almost all the time alone with the protagonist in locations that can be counted on one hand, the eyes always have something to do. Looking at the numerous trinkets and curiosities in the background, accompanied by Andriy Melnyk's surzhyk monologues, Max's calm, lullaby-like voice on the onboard computer, or Katrin's spicy and melodic conversations, becomes a kind of meditation.

Passion and skill

This film is a combination of young enthusiasm and hardened skill. It is the first large-scale work of the director, who has been cradled and nurtured for years. While watching the movie, it never occurred to me that the director and the main actor did not even have the appropriate education, and their experience was minimal. My attention was captured by the boundless love and dedication of everyone who worked on the movie, because that's what every frame is filled with.

Comedy and tragedy

I haven't laughed so hard in a long time and I haven't had a heartbeat in my chest for a long time. The picture is full of simple human humor that touches your soul like a good friend, and together you laugh at something ridiculous, but only your own, dear. And while you're laughing so hard that tears come to your eyes, you suddenly realize that those tears are no longer from laughter, and that the character who didn't seem close to you a few minutes ago has become quite indifferent to you. Perhaps now you want to cross half the universe even more than he does and find yourself in that damned orbit of Saturn. But when the story comes to an end, its unexpected denouement hits you in the face, and a gasp of pain, anguish, and delight escapes your lips at how perfect, beautiful, and unbearably inevitable it is. And you sit there, in that hall, crying and smiling, because you have witnessed something so beautiful that you can't even believe it was created by Ukrainians. And your heart squeezes and blossoms even more with pride, with love and admiration for your people, your land and your culture.

PHOTO: trailer of the movie "You Are Space"

I want to call this movie perfect. And you may disagree with me, saying that there are errors in it in terms of the realistic representation of space, calculations, physics, chemistry, mathematics... But I will tell you that this movie is not about space at all. It's about love. About love as boundless as the Universe, as bright as the stars, and as tragic as the mysterious cosmic abyss that humanity will never comprehend. But I insist that you try. That you let "You Are Space" pass through you and savor this picture with your own eyes, ears, and heart.

Катерина Галенко

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