Film: 20 Days in Mariupol
Back to London now - on a delayed flight, as usual (as I said in their survey, no, my opinion of them hadn't changed, because while they were late, that was the norm). Kee-rist, it's cold! Honestly - as I said to the guy selling me a ticket this evening - it isn't fair; here am I, it was mild when I left, roasting in Vegas.. now I'm back here and it's freezing! Talk about from the frying pan into the fridge..
For today, I was thinking film - what came up was 20 Days in Mariupol, a documentary about a team of Ukrainian journalists that arrived in Mariupol just before the invasion, and spent the next 20 days shooting footage, and trying to get it out. Showing, as ever, in the excellent Curzon Bloomsbury - not selling out, so I didn't book in advance, I said I'd try to get a free ticket in person. I am entitled to one, but it was proving hard to book a free ticket on the website!
Buses were a nightmare all evening. I used to be able to go the whole way on the #188 - in their wisdom, they've changed the route, and now I have to change buses. With that and the traffic, it took me twice Google Maps' predicted time to get there - never mind not getting there in time to eat, I didn't get there in time for the start! Got my ticket, chatted to the guy about the cold, got my usual wine and chocolate, took my seat - the film had just started. En route, BTW, I checked my ticket - blast it, a discounted ticket again! (rather than free). Funnily enough, I checked the website when I got back, and it's fixed now..
One of the first things you see is a tank, the letter Z painted on the side.. the Z being the symbol of a Russian tank at war. As the camera watches, the gun swivels slowly to its direction.. Honestly, few horror films have a scene as scary. The journalists are constantly on the run, and the first people they meet, fleeing with what possessions they can carry, are hostile. But as the film continues, people are begging them to get their story out there. Putin has claimed he won't target civilians - of course, we now know what his word is worth, and soon, shells are raining down on private houses and flats.
People huddle in basements - the journalists spend most of their time in hospitals, also not immune from shells, and some of the scenes are heartbreaking. A father weeps over his 16-year-old son - he was watching him play football outside his school when a shell struck - the boy's legs were blown clean off, and he died in hospital. A heavily pregnant woman is stretchered out of the hospital that has been attacked - her pelvis was shattered. Neither she nor the baby survive. Babies are buried in mass graves. Hospital staff sit on the floor weeping - they have no more antibiotics, the electricity is gone, there is no food or water. Ambulances are attacked. A nurse who goes outside is shot. Every plane is dangerous..
Imagine being afraid of every plane that flies overhead. Imagine living in a stinking basement, no sewage, little food or water. A Russian diplomat, confronted at the end about this footage that has been released, says it's a tissue of lies.. Interestingly, another of the first scenes of the film shows Putin's address to the Russian people, in which he claims that this move by Russia is defensive, responding to Ukrainian threats. Is this what it was like to live in the Soviet Union, constantly fed lies presented as Gospel truth?
Not easy viewing, but this is important stuff. Highly recommended. I'm glad to have seen it finally - it's been on my list for a long time.
Afterwards, to GBK - where, as usual, my chicken was too big for its burger. So I started to cut up the edges - until I came to a bit I couldn't actually cut, it was so tough! Found another tough bit on the outside of the burger. Had to leave a couple of large pieces - when I mentioned it while I was paying, the guy, while perhaps being no more interested in my complaint than was the receptionist at my hotel in Vegas, at least had the grace to sound apologetic..
And so to the buses home. Not that Google Maps - on my phone at least - knows where "home" is any more! It keeps wanting to direct me to my last "home". My first bus - the #91 - was supposed to go to Trafalgar Square, but stopped short, happily taking me to where I could catch the next. As I waited, a poor young fellow had an absolute meltdown - all the #91s were advertised as going to Trafalgar Square, where he needed to go: but not a single one was! I had to sympathise..
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