The war in Ukraine has been ongoing for 18 months, but for those living in the most heavily affected areas, the battles have been raging for much longer – since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and separatist forces took control of parts of the Donbas region in the east. Director Maryna Er Gorbach’s fourth feature film, Klondike, takes viewers back to this tumultuous period in Ukrainian history, focusing on an expectant couple named Irka and Tolik, who live in the rural enclave of Hrabove as the war unfolds around them.
Hrabove gained international attention in July 2014 when a Malaysian airliner tragically crashed there after being shot down by a Russian anti-aircraft missile. This devastating event looms large over Klondike, which primarily takes place on the couple’s small farm as they struggle to hold on to their normal lives amidst the chaos of war. Er Gorbach, serving as director, writer, producer, and editor, uses the couple’s home as the main set, with its walls literally torn away to expose the backdrop of destruction. This powerful visual statement is featured in the film’s opening scene, where Irka and Tolik have an intimate conversation about their impending childbirth before a mortar explodes into their living room, changing their lives forever.
Er Gorbach collaborates with cinematographer Sviatoslav Bulakovskiy to capture the events in one continuous take, creating a sense of real-time urgency and immersing the audience in the characters’ experiences. This stylistic choice is reminiscent of Andrei Tarkovsky’s final film, The Sacrifice, which also takes place in a country house amidst an impending disaster. Additionally, the long-take sequences in Klondike echo the works of Hungarian filmmaker Miklós Jancsó, known for his masterful use of long shots in war films like The Red and the White. Like Jancsó’s films, Klondike portrays the fog of war where it becomes difficult to distinguish friend from foe. Irka and Tolik, along with other Donbas residents, are forced to join the separatists or flee, facing impossible choices and an uncertain future.
The couple’s already unbearable situation takes a turn for the worse when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shot down directly above their house. Debris and victims rain down into their front yard, exposing them to evidence of an event that their aggressors are trying to cover up. Stranded in the wrong place at the wrong time, Irka and Tolik become witnesses to the truth, further endangering their lives. Klondike explores how ordinary people with regular problems are thrust into extraordinary situations beyond their control, testing the limits of their human experience.
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One of the most unsettling scenes in the film involves Irka and Tolik driving their beaten-up van across the desolate Ukrainian landscape. Accompanying them in the backseat are a Dutch couple, desperate to recover the body of their daughter who was on the downed airliner. In this sequence, dialogue is sparse, as the couples also struggle to communicate due to the language barrier. Instead, the audience is left to contemplate the powerful imagery and the stark contrast between two sets of people at different points in their lives – one expecting a child, while the other has just lost theirs. Despite their differences, they are connected by the same conflict, bound together by tragedy and the harsh reality that the innocent often suffer the most.
Through its unsettling and aesthetically gripping storytelling, Klondike shines a light on the human cost of war and the profound impact it has on individuals and communities. The film serves as a reminder that behind the headlines and statistics, there are real people enduring unimaginable hardships. By exploring the experiences of Irka and Tolik, Er Gorbach brings the war in Ukraine to life, urging audiences to confront the devastating consequences of conflict and to consider the humanity that is too often forgotten in the midst of war’s chaos.
