The texture of Eastern European film, especially as it pertains to Russia and its constituents, can be long winded but ultimately voracious with metaphor. Ultimately though it gives a unique insight into life in a country both vast and utterly steeped in culture. “Atlantis” in that way is a fascinating journey both emotional but also methodical. While a film like Russia’s “Leviathan” at Cannes a few years back was beautiful, this film , which takes on a apocalyptic drift but using existing locations and vehicles, is visually riveting even more than the previous film (mostly because of the more industrialized approach. The director uses the essence of master shots in terms of composition and lets the action occur primarily in front of them. This style is beautiful and mostly lost in Western culture but it gives a sense of breathe that cannot be duplicated. What is interesting is it is the story of a man loyal to his country but watching it fall apart. The story takes place after a war between Russia and the Ukraine so it does reflect on current fears and textures of life there.
Much of the story is a simple transgression of services. Sergey, the lead character, travels across the land from his work delivering fuel and water to various outposts where certain pertains of infrastructure exist. That is definitely fascinating to watch between a huge border wall being set up and, large tanks moving through frame. But it is also the more intimate scenes still set on a wide canvas that are riveting. Much of the film follows a team that is recovering bodies from the war but cataloging everything about them even though they remain nameless. It is an apt metaphor but also so specifically detailed as you watch Sergey react to them both with a distance and an immediacy of action. He, like many of the people, can’t go anywhere else not because they can’t but they don’t want to abandon a country they fought so hard for. You can see it sticking in Sergey’s gut.
He goes back to an apartment in a long shot which is one of the few Steadicam/handheld pieces. It is utterly convincing, especially a burnt out piano siting in the sunlight as Sergey looks at the floor. Many of these scenes could stand on their own as a short vignettes. One that brings it all together is a scene where Sergey and a woman he works with in recovering bodies get stuck on the road during a rainstorm. The transition and transmutation of behavior against a very specific backdrop is utterly telling. “Atlantis” speaks not of a lost civilization but rather it reflects one that, through the underpinnings of genre, needs to be remembered. The movie is utterly effective in doing that while creating a modern painting of both patriotism and loss.
A
By Tim Wassberg
The Inside Reel 