The background of this documentary is that during the outbreak of the Ukrainian War, a sniper from Serbia volunteered to join the army to protect one side. His name is "Deji". At the age of 17, war broke out in the motherland. He was very energetic and quit school and went to the battlefield on impulse.
The background of this documentary is that during the outbreak of the Ukrainian War, a sniper from Serbia volunteered to join the army to protect one side. His name is "Deji". At the age of 17, war broke out in the motherland. He was very energetic and quit school and went to the battlefield on impulse. Watching Yugoslavia fall apart little by little, Deji's hatred of NATO is growing day by day, and the hatred of these home countries reached its culmination after Serbia was bombed. It was also at this time that Russian assistance gave him hope when his motherland was dying, so he became a Russian ally after more than two decades.
In 2014, Russia captured Crimea, and eastern Ukraine split into the Donetsk People’s Republic. NATO, led by the United States, provides military assistance to Ukraine, while Russia assists Donetsk in fighting for independence. Deji's army is composed of volunteers from various countries. They have never recruited and are not paid. They only rely on pure belief to grant themselves to other countries. At the time of shooting, he had been stationed in Donetsk for three years, and countless enemies were killed under the gun. What he cares most now is the confrontation with the enemy sharpshooter Mariupo. Mariupo never cared about any unarmed civilians when firing. He was a pure executioner, and Deji's wish was to get rid of him and live a peaceful life.
In fact, I originally expected that the two sniper duel would be full of suspense, but Deji quickly solved Mariupo on the front line, as easy as a game. I think pulling the trigger in a war is the same as touching the screen of a mobile phone in reality. It is aimed at shooting, but the result is different. The film did not render too many cruel scenes, but in the war, I saw the warmth that ordinary people should have: In the solemn military base, Deji is like a shit shoveling officer, and he is going to the front line. In the car, before facing the rain of bullets, the soldiers smiled and spoke out; after receiving the Saint George Medal, he was as happy as a child; but behind this, the nature of the war was cruel.
Before joining the volunteer army, Deji built the Olympic Village in Sochi, Russia, as an ordinary construction worker. He doesn't have any big pursuits, he just wants to earn enough money to own a small house and live with his son. As the war broke out, everything was changed. The life he has experienced is as gloomy as the tone of the film, perhaps it is the smoke of gunpowder, or the haze in his heart, lingering. It seems to be a battle between nations, but for him there are three battles, one is for the people of Donetsk, the other is a duel with Mariupo, and the third is between the ordinary and the responsibility. Painful choices.
He had the opportunity to take advantage of the life he had always longed for. Just a few months after the award, Deji had a very comfortable time on a farm in Russia. But he picked up the sniper again shortly after. Just like at the beginning of the film, he was cooking whole pigs in the snow-covered courtyard. At this time, I guess he has returned to the ordinary. But at the end, he walked in the snow in a uniform, contrary to his own expectations. The director's setting at this point reflects Deji's life journey, and will always go against it for the sake of inner justice.
The use of a large number of montages in the film makes the language of the film play to its extreme. When the two old women were looking for their husbands tombstones in the cemetery, there was not much language to express. From wailing to indifferent, only a few shots highlighted the complex emotional changes in the characters' hearts, but the text seemed very pale at this time. After decades of war and turmoil, the protagonist's heart is very simple and clear. He conceived life beyond his reach into a "utopian" state of perfection, and he was willing to give up his desire for the people.
The only time Deji shed tears in the film was when he heard an electrician talk about how he was frequently attacked by snipers at work. He promised to let these ordinary people live a peaceful life and one day sit down with them. Drink tea. And now all he can do is pick up the gun to protect the teacup in other people's hands.
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