What the most controversial film at TIFF really says

'Russians at War' humanizes 'the enemy,' reminding viewers that these soldiers have also been lied to and abused

- COREY ATAD

Director Anastasia Trofimova's approach to capturing the drudgery of war is, for anyone convinced of Russia's wrongdoing, frustrating to watch, Corey Atad writes.

Russians at War

✩✩✩✩(out of 4) Directed by Anastasia Trofimova.

Screened at TIFF Lightbox Tuesday.

129 minutes

Holed up in a home belonging to an elderly woman in occupied Eastern Ukraine, a soldier named Ilya has a frank conversation with his superior officer.

"I came here for patriotism," he says.

"Do you see it here?" his superior asks.

Taking a beat, Ilya replies, "Not anymore, unfortunately."

It's a conversation that happens early in Anastasia Trofimova's controversial documentary "Russians at War," which had its public screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival cancelled last week amid heavy protest, denouncements by members of Parliament and the federal cabinet, the loss of broadcast partner TVO and alleged threats to public safety. It's also emblematic of the film's tone, in which the morass of the war has produced in its invading forces a disillusionment close to nihilism. (In a recent reversal, the film screened Tuesday at the TIFF Lightbox.)

"Russians at War" is, despite the controversy surrounding it, an excellent and bracing documentary, Atad writes.