Monday, August 29, 2011

INNOCENT SATURDAY - MIFF 2011


Oh, the missed opportunity this film is, all the potential this film had, and this is what we got?!?  I was very excited when I realized that this film was about the Chernobyl incident as I thought I was going to get an in-depth and serious look into this tragic accident and the people it affected.  

With the exception of the terrible handheld shaky camerawork, the film starts well with communist party member Valerij fleeing with his girlfriend to escape the neighbouring town they live in from the devastating consequences of the nuclear reactor explosion.  Valerij had visited the power-plant shortly after the explosion, but had been left with strict instructions to not let anyone know in town, in an attempt to avoid panic.  After missing the train out of town by mere seconds, Valerij knows he is doomed and ends up finding his old band-mate friends to try and make amends with.  

So instead of a look at the actual incident and what caused it, we get to spend a depressing ninety minutes with a man at a wedding party (which is where the band is performing).  He is depressed because he knows that these brief moments of happiness are all for naught, as the large levels of radiation about to hit this town are going to cause more pain than can be imagined.

Basically nothing happens at all during “Innocent Saturday”.  We get long scenes of the band playing and the guests dancing and yes, it is sad that these were the kinds of innocent people who were affected by this disaster especially when it is revealed that one of the characters is pregnant, but it is not enough.  The film just lacks focus making it a pretty unpleasant film to watch.  Contributing to that unpleasantness is the terrible camerawork throughout the film which just irritated me no end.

At the end of the film it is explained that the town was not evacuated for thirty six hours after the explosion which is just a disgrace, and I wish the film was more about that, because the film we got, I just did not enjoy at all

1.5 Stars.

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