If you think a documentary filmed during the war in Ukraine last year will be harrowing and hard to watch…then well, you’d be right. However, one would be less likely to guess that a documentary about civilians trapped in a war zone could be hopeful whilst being true to the terror surrounding them all. Somehow, director David Gutnik, a Ukrainian-American filmmaker, finds a thread of hope in what feels like a nightmare. There are several visuals in Rule of Two Walls that provoked audible gasps, even though I sat alone watching it on my TV at home. Yet, through the power of art, Gutnik shows the true strength of people who resist oppression as they see fit.
The film is deceptive in that it doesn’t initially feel like a documentary when it begins. Framed in an intimate close-up, we are introduced to two of the artists the film will follow as they wake up and begin the new morning routine that presumably has been altered by the war around them. Tape on the windows in the shape of an “X” – familiar to any Floridian who has lived through a hurricane – casts odd shadows on their apartment. It’s this intimacy and the nightmare we find these people living through that makes this documentary feel more akin to a found-footage horror film like Cloverfield. The surreal element of people making breakfast while the sounds of war echo in the distance makes it impossible not to be sucked into the film.
There have been a variety of anecdotes and visual examples of grass or plants breaking through concrete in an act of sheer defiance. Nature says no matter what you do to me, I’m resilient – and I will not be removed so easily. In fact, I noticed this very thing happening on a recently repaved street that I run with a friend on. It couldn’t be a month ago that they repaved it, and there in the middle of it is grass breaking through. This documentary attempts to frame the human spirit in the same way. We see these people living their lives, creating art, and coming together for a concert that screams defiance to those who would have them all surrendering or dead. Gutnik captures Ukranian citizens refusing to be destroyed, and we watch as they use their talents to push through the rubble and the war to remind Russia that they are still here.
Rule of Two Walls is a phrase uttered by an older woman who is explaining why she stayed. The idea is that you need to have two walls between you and the street so that if a bomb hits, you’re less likely to be injured. It is the layers we keep between us and danger in an attempt to keep our lives that this film truly captures. Those layers can be many things, and art – posters, music, the film itself – seems to be working for many who are still there. The film is a true testament to the horrors of war and the power of people.
Rule of Two Walls debuts at Tribeca on June 8.
Rating: Must See
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