20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL

(director/writer: Mstyslav Chernov; cinematographer: Mstyslav Chernov; editor: Michelle Mizner; music: Jordan Dykstra; Runtime: 95; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath, Derl McCrudden; A Frontline/AP production; 2023-Ukraine-in Ukrainian, Russian & English with English subtitles)

“Painful watch of Russia’s barbaric invasion in 2022 of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The first-time filmmaker, the Ukrainian Associated Press journalist and videographer Mstyslav Chernov writes and directs this painful watch of Russia’s barbaric invasion in 2022 of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which is only 35 miles from the Russian border (as the human casualties and city’s destruction is too devastating to fully comprehend how massive was the human toll).

The invasion was covered by Chernov and two colleagues for 20 days. Their videos show the war crimes committed by the Russians that was seen all over the world through the reporting on the internet, the newspapers and this video (as it was appalling to see close-ups of dead infants, pregnant women, children and adults lying in the streets or all the bombed-out buildings). Putin said it was fake news, pulling out the same bag of lying crap his loser pal Trump says when lying.

The first person views cover the filming of those wounded in the overcrowded hospitals, pained interviews with the downtrodden survivors, and the powerful images of the grieving parents hovering over their dead children.

This harrowing eyewitness report to history documentary, bears witness to how the monstrous Putin has led his Russia down a dark path reserved for the worst of evil-doers like Hitler.

It played at the Sundance Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 1/4/2023  GRADE: B+