The Whaler Boy

Unless you are completely hooked on Hollywood blockbusters, do yourself a favour and watch this movie. With a fraction of a fraction of the budget of a Hollywood movie, this gem managed to totally captivate me throughout. It introduced me to a part of our planet I know almost nothing about. It is elegiac, but also hopeful. It increasingly made me feel deep empathy for its central character, without him ever saying much. It features outstanding cinematography (the collection of candlelight scenes during the power-cut radiate enormous warmth and humanity) and a most surprising soundtrack. And the last five minutes are some of the best I ever watched in a movie. What more could one want ! (Thank you to the WOW Festival 2021 for screening this)

Summary

This wonderful and moving story about a young whale hunter and his community in the confines of eastern Siberia, goes from naturalistic realism to fable, combines the coming of age with the social portrait, exhibits the right doses of tenderness and poetry and he sports a sobriety that preserves him from any maudlin overflow.

Review

Leshka (Vladimir Onokhov) is a Chukchi teenager who lives in a coastal town on the Bering Strait, in the autonomous region of Chukotka (Russian Federation), in the confines of eastern Siberia. The villagers are engaged in harpoon whaling. From the moment Leshka sees an American cam girl online and he falls in love with her, her life takes an decisive turn.

Leshka lives with his grandfather and rides a motorcycle with his friend across the endless tundra. He participates in hunting parties (of a documentary realism) and does not do many more in that poor community, with a desolate environment, geographically isolated and inhabited mainly by men. A community with a limited but supportive future and with the very close horizon of American Alaska. Perhaps Leshka's dream encounter is a necessary chimera to leave his community behind.

(Let us add as a side note that the Chukchi ethnic group is the most related to that of the original American peoples.)

This first feature film by Philipp Yuryev (scripted by him) admirably combines a wide variety of registers and genres: comedy, naturalistic drama, coming of age, social portraiture and fable and even adventure story. The same diversity is appreciated in the cinematographic narrative: in prolonged scenes, with or without fixed, intimate shots or in the desolate immensity of the tundra (admirably photographed), there are series of short scenes that erupt without transitions and with abrupt changes of scenery or others of extreme agitation. To all this is added an incredible soundtrack.

In short, a wonderful and moving story that goes from naturalistic realism to fable, which combines the coming age with the social portrait, which exhibits the right doses of tenderness and poetry and which is safe from any sentimental overflow thanks to its sobriety.

I really liked Lyoshka's sensitive world, with which you can empathize pretty quickly.

The director Philipp Yuryev delivers a great movie!

A far from uncommon problem as adolescence draws to a close and the surroundings that have protected become a prison; big city or on the outskirts of nowhere, the only difference being that one makes scratching that itch a lot easier. Share the frustrations of Leshka, as online love and the American dream are dangled so tantalisingly close and yet remain so far away and completely out of touch.

The opening bird's-eye view of butchering a whale sets the tone for the journey of Leshka, a teenage whale hunter from a small village located on the Chukchi coast. We discover this closed and isolated universe through the point of view of this whale hunter, he leads a monotonous life, exhausted and it is not just living that troubles him, but the endless Gray vicinity around him immersed in the sound of the ocean filled with whale guts. The villagers lead an old-fashioned traditional life, they gather for a day to divide the meat of the whale among themselves. The boring world of Leshka slowly starts to crumble and everything changes with the emergence of the Internet in the village. He is obsessed with an erotic site; it is here he experiences feelings and love arrives in a weird form. Leshka falls for the American webcam model, the innocent teenager leaves no stones unturned to connect with her. He is ignorant of the fact that she can't even hear him, but at the same time available for many users accessing the cam. Driven by blind love, he arranges a speedboat and rushes to sail in search of this model without any knowledge of English. Leshka is caught between the world he wants to leave and the new world. On the surface, this might sound like a simple road journey of a man to find love. But there is so more that lingers in the cold bleak journey, the movie completely takes a shift as it progresses. There is a Lynchian style storytelling that creates uncertainty and filled with metaphors as the film travels. The camera peers through the landscape and gives us a documentary aesthetics from time to time. The ending is subliminal but keeps in step with the semblance of the screenplay. One can make comparisons with the works of Dervis Zaim, Aleksandre Rekhviashvili, David Lynch and Andrei Tarkovsky. There is so many aspects that are presented by the filmmaker without being watered down or by moral policing. The simple activities, burial ritual, the advent of internet and how the locals access pornographic content. It is handled with completely non-malicious approach and I'm so glad about the minimal attention which could've misfired. Coming to my favourite part, the 2nd half in all its eminence elevated the story to another realm. At the 2nd half of the film is the deserted Bering strait separating Russian and America. It can be associated with silence and expression of Leshka that amplifies the tension. Also, the scene between the border security guard, speaking English, While Leshka in Russian communicating by mimic and says only America, Detroit is the highlight here. I could feel the tension, longing and breathe in the sound of the ocean when Leksha is not ready to give up. The scene with his grandfather resting on the grass with a smile and facing sky is also my favourite. And now to the soundtrack, I was confused as it boasted of surprises ranging from Roy Orbison to baroque pieces. In addition, there is more Lynchian connect as the soundtrack features David Lynch, Angelo Badalamenti's Rockin' Back Inside My Heart performed by Julie Cruz. It was a biggest surprise and will cast a spell for Twin Peaks fans. The music is accentuated in the sequence when Leshka is in foggy otherworldly zone filled with whale skeletons, it is surreal feeling beyond compare.

Final thoughts, I want to appreciate the entire cast and crew and producer Alexei Uchitel for backing this project. if you love gripping character study devoid of clichés and want to experience something fresh and otherworldly. I'd readily suggest you check this out, immerse yourself and enthusiastically recommended it for Arthouse lovers.