Light and Shadows. Ivan Chendej

This film is recommended to all interested in the Ukrainian cinema and in the substance of artist and conditions, both natural and social, that form her or him. I watched it at the Carpathian Mountain International Film Festival in September 2022. This film was different from the others (mainly about maintains, ecology, man and nature, travel and skiing, etc.) as it is about a character and national identity, the formation of a free and indomitable artist.

Thanks to the fine direction, writer Ivan Chendej (Chendey, Csendej) (1922-2005) as the main protagonist is unfolding before our eyes as both great and simple: in his life and the closest circle. The Chendej figure is conveyed through the reflection of natural and life elements. At the start, we travel to his native Dubove (historically, Dombo), electrified and colorful, with the voice of a mountain river and waterfalls, songs and traditions. Shots are breathing with telling stories of the writer's closest people, also conveying the smell of grass, the aroma of apples and pears from the family garden. The Chendej's idea that art can enlighten and educate is realized in the film itself.

The film features a non-linear narrative about Chendej, bringing his charisma closer to a new generation of viewers. There is no pathos or canonicity here, no emphasis on what can scare young people away from the past era. There is the Man, his nature, the cultivation of talent and some inexhaustible Ukrainian philosophy of life...

Now, during the war in Ukraine there is a discussion about film triggers (what to screen or not, what kind of cinema can be perceived as art that heals?). In this light this film is of the type of cinema which is relevant, archetypal, and meditational.

The film's screening during the war also activates its relevance by comparing eras and regimes. Interestingly at the screening of another Festival's film "The Last Austrians" (dir. Lukas Pitscheider, 2020), some in the audience compared it to the "Light and Shadows", criticizing the Austrian film as a post-colonial perception of Ukrainians who seems not have their high dreams... True, we, Ukrainians, live in a difficult time of loss and collective trauma, when we uproot the remnants of the Soviet Union and rediscover own backgrounds. Dream is not something ephemeral, but is about the will, identity and native land with its language and sources. What Chendej dreamed about resonates with the current urgent needs and dreams: the will, the native language, liberation from the inferiority complex. These dreams are of higher nature.

"Light and Shadows" traces the struggle for one's own through life trials of Chendej, where regular life and creative path are closely intertwined. The film director, who is one of the leading indie documentarians, managed to convey and bring high the posture of the Ukrainian highlander with a strong-willed character. The voice of the people and the environment is also conveyed confidently (trumpets, mountain stream, thunderstorm), and the singing of Ukrainian songs. It is symbolic that the views of mountains and valleys emphasize large and boundless spaces, which also convey Chendej's desire for large forms and "high" themes.

A historical documentary is always a difficult task. The character or theme is no longer with us, so their de/reconstruction is usually a directorial test and almost always guaranteed to be a boring viewing. Historical chronicle usually helps, but the audience will not find it in this film. No voice-over, either. What is the director's way? He recreates the character based on nature and the elements which formed him, accompanied by the testimonies of his closest contemporaries. The festival audience (filmmakers as well) noted: the story and selection of contemporaries lack the pathos of literary nomenclature, it is about a person, not a monument. Thanks to the film director, Chendej is brought close: through nature, roots, smiles and even a manner of social protest (wearing long hair and a mustache, according to his wife, was also a way of not only creative self-expression, but also resistance).

The Kyiv-based Ukrainian Festival jury seems to have missed this film. There is an incredible shot in the film in which a prominent Ukrainian cinema scholar and film critic is seen on his knees asking for forgiveness for not recognizing the importance of Chendej and Transcarpathia for the Ukrainian cinema. The film shows years of writer's forced oblivion despite his script work on what became the most prominent Ukrainian film ever. However, the Festival jury seems to miss this point again, creating some "shadows": they, rather, awarded the (worthwhile) depictions of foreign maintains and people, as though they again forget their own ancestors and rather keep on feeding the interiority complex. In contrast, the audience appreciated the film. It is what may be called "national sensitivity" to everything Ukrainian from basic to higher aspirations and dreams, sensitivity to the people and their land that distinguishes the film director and his film in this vulnerable and difficult time for Ukraine.

So, it is not surprising that the audience appreciated the discoveries and had many questions about the Chendej's character after the screening, also answered by his daughter and family present in the theater. Many viewers, fortunately or unfortunately, now being in Transcarpathia as war resetllers, rediscover this remarkable region for themselves. The same way, many Ukrainians now make discoveries about what make them Ukrainians. And, in the times when Ukraine lives through another genocide, it is important to go through these trials without spiritual defeat. To the contrary, Ukrainians are to make their way to the victory thanks to the faith, first-hand knowledge, and role-modeling about those who went through difficult times because the Light shines through and become visible.

The title "Light and Shadows" refers to deep meanings, building on Chendej's importance in screenwriting and contribution to the legendary "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" (1964). He was banned for around 10 years for his collection of writings "March Snow" (1967) with the novel "Ivan", expelled from the Union of Writers and the Party, had to basically survive, what is also discussed in the film. But his light of a Man and Creative genius broke through the shadows of years and oblivion. Looking at the way the projector's light poured on the audience in the Uzhhorod's theater on the warm September evening, it seemed that the very Chendej figure "came to life", thanks to this documentary film and its director. Hope you also get enLIGHTened!