Film recommendation from the Kyiv Independent: “Pryputni” by Arkadiy Nepytaliuk (Patreon)

Hi! It’s Anna Myroniuk, head of investigations at the Kyiv Independent. I am writing this film review at the request of our community manager. I guess you can tell by my job title that I don’t normally cover topics like culture, but once I heard what movie was in question, I gladly agreed. Arkadiy Nepytaliuk’s film “Pryputni” (“The Strayed”) is among my favorite Ukrainian feature films.

First, I find it beautifully directed, with taste and style. By style, I mean the director’s visual eye – some scenes are just iconic. Meanwhile, the storyline offers us characters that are very far from being stylish or sophisticated. They are ordinary people from Chernihiv Oblast who come from a disadvantaged background. The movie is very artistic; I was personally surprised to learn that it was the first feature film Nepytaliuk ever made.

Second, the movie is very dramatic – sometimes even brutal – yet funny. What spices it up is the language spoken: a local dialect of Chernihiv Oblast or surzhyk, a rule-breaking way of speaking Ukrainian. Surzhyk, a mix of Russian and Ukrainian, is a controversial subject in Ukraine. In Russian cinematography, it is used to depict Ukrainians as uneducated with no real language of their own. But if we stop caring about Russia and its use of Ukrainian surzhyk against Ukraine (classic) and focus on the language itself, we can see it as vibrant and magnetic. I personally really love how lively the language is in the film. It makes the characters sound very authentic.

Third, Pryputni touches on topics that for many hit home: difficult parent-child relationships, romantic rejection, and loss.

“Pryputni” or “The Strayed” is a road movie released in 2017. A mother and daughter, Liuda and Sveta, are late to catch their bus, which ruins their plans to visit their grandmother, Zina, in a nearby village.

Yura, a taxi driver, is driving by, listening to the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. This wouldn't have been his first music choice if not for a very well-educated school teacher, Khrystya, whom he fell for. She rejects him earlier that morning, after which Yura impulsively throws away all reminders of her except a Beethoven CD – deciding to hit the road in search of an adventure.

He agrees to give Sveta and Liuda a lift from Nizhyn, a tiny city in Chernihiv Oblast, to Pryputni, the nearby village where Zina awaits them. Upon arrival, the three women immediately start fighting: the daughters accusing their mothers of mistreatment.

But that’s not the only family drama in the film. Father and son, Stanislavovych and Slavik, have a sour relationship, too. It escalates after Stanislavovych learns that Slavik, triggered by the loss of a woman he loves, beats Yura almost to death and sets his taxi on fire (an epic scene).

Love is the glue that keeps the fighting parties together. Outraged by his son’s brutal actions, Stanislavovych looks to punish him, but eventually walks away from confrontation. Angry at Sveta for her reckless love life, Liuda shows her some care in the end.

It hurts them, but they stick together, even with no clear prospects for reconciliation.

You can (legally) watch Pryputni for free here.