Cinema has always been a powerful tool for highlighting and discussing social issues. Film allows us to see our lives from a different perspective. One of the main tasks of directors is to entertain the audience as well as to understand the importance of solving social problems, and, in many cases, they do this in an interesting way in short films. To convey their message, authors do not need a lot of money, famous actors or weepy film music; a well-developed visual side and a correctly selected active problematic are enough.
Anna Sarukhanova's short film, "Till the End of the Day" (2016), follows two sisters’ strange story who, having come to deliver a parcel to their grandfather, find the door open, but the grandfather is not at home. Has the old man lost the way home again? The viewer observes the sisters' apathetic attitude towards each other and the environment. Why does it happen and what makes people become indifferent to their loved ones? This is the final form of this work, although the author's main idea of the plot was to awaken childhood memories, against the background of which an interesting story should have developed, but this was weakly-expressed and indifference was overshadowed by a secondary topic.
The problem of indifference has become extremely relevant in modern society. Recently, it seems to have become the norm, so filmmakers have paid more attention to it and have said their piece on the big screen. Unlike world cinema, this topic is less covered in our films. There are several works where indifference and the problems caused by it are mentioned indirectly, however, this issue has not been raised as acutely in other films as it is in this one.
The film begins against the backdrop of a beautiful landscape. As if they were strangers, Ana and Elene walk the entire way to their destination. In the very first minutes, the sisters’ non-standard relationship is clearly noticeable. The elevator scene is shot in a special close-up, which clearly shows their emotionless attitude towards each other. After that, the cameraman no longer uses close-ups.
The sisters seem to find themselves in a kind of vessel, left alone in an empty house. The director reveals the two young people’s inner world in a completely different way. Except for a few episodes, Ana and Elena constantly appear together in the shot, it is possible to observe them well with double exposure, the girls are completely different personalities from each other. In one shot we can see both girls, a desperate Ana, who is trying to find out something about her grandfather, and Elena is sometimes looking through books in the closet, sometimes choosing a record for the tape recorder, sometimes hanging curtains on the windows. She behaves as if nothing special happened with the loss of a person.
The main characters or the people on the other side of the phone, all have their own world. These people do not feel any responsibility for each other because they have no sense of integrity. The parents' divorce has turned the family members into strangers. No one needs the old grandfather anymore. The parents are indifferent not only to Vakho but also to their children, when a desperate Ana calls them for help in finding the old man. The father, who is in London, excuses for the lack of time and reaches out to the mother to find him, to do something, he says, while the mother, on the contrary, puts all the responsibility on her ex-husband. In the end, Ana is left alone with the problem and has no choice but to wait.
“Till the End of the Day” evokes a whole range of emotions and feelings, from fear to joy. When you analyze the plot, you realize that this is a real catastrophe. People who were once close to each other become strangers. At first, you are afraid both for the characters’ future and for our society because, unfortunately, coldness towards everyone and everything is not uncommon in the modern world and this is only growing.
The climax is not fully reached. The whole plot is an attempt to lead the story to a sad and depressing finale but the atmosphere never reaches its maximum. Everything falls apart when an incomprehensible irony comes to the fore, which diminishes the overall impression. We are talking about the breakfast scene, where the sisters laugh hysterically and say that it would be better if Vakho did not return at all, then everything would be the same as before. It is unclear what the author wanted to achieve with this episode. If you sympathized with Ana until this moment, now that disappears as well. She too becomes an ordinary member of her family, no different from them and just as cold-hearted as the rest.
To appease the audience, heartbroken by the sight of these emotionless people, Vakho enters the shot, who apparently spent the whole night in the hospital to help some strange boy. This elderly man is a complete contrast to his relatives. Accordingly, the question arises, has modernity made the new generation so cold-hearted, and if so, what will happen later, years later? However, there are no solid arguments for this in the work, so we must leave it to the audience to draw their own conclusions.
There are few dialogues and actions, which make the film unconvincing. The director might deliberately avoid all this. It is clear that Ana does not like being in this house but there is no answer to why. It is also not clear why her grandfather prevented her from living in the old way, why people so close to her became alienated. Certain episodes need to be strengthened.
Since the author's original idea was to have the childhood home evoke memories, several details are shown to help this happen - an untouched bookshelf, a toy train, music records that her mother played before going to bed and that's all that is not enough to fully develop the idea.
The author does not want to deceive and shows the finale without any "happy ending." Neither the childhood home nor the unharmed return of her grandfather could melt the ice in them in the slightest. They remained as indifferent as they were at the beginning. Those who leave the apartment continue their journey in different directions like strangers.
The film well depicts the faceless life of a person who is closed in oneself but it leaves hope that the viewer who watches this story will at least reduce their indifference and become more empathetic towards those around them. If the sisters are shown in close-up in the first shot, in the last one, as far and as possible, the camera looks at the girls from afar and from above. It seems to be showing grandchildren seen not through the cameraman’s eyes, but through Vakho’s eyes.
Apathy is a great cruelty. It turns a person into an animal, accustomed to living for himself. There are no social values for him, he does not know compassion. Bad and good actions towards another person show that a person not only exists but also lives because he knows how to empathize with others, therefore, the existence of works like this film by Sarukhanova is necessary. Despite certain faults, the attempt is commendable, such films affect personal development, raise the cultural level and cope with difficult life situations.
Teona Vekua
