Hot Docs 2024: Intercepted (by Oksana Karpovych) | Review
Intercepted is a harsh film that delves into the depths of humanity and the calculating coldness of barbarity at play in the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Oksana Karpovych’s sophomore documentary feature conducts a chilling and terrifying autopsy of the dehumanization of the Ukrainian neighbor, an enemy to be annihilated without remorse.
What if the cinema of 2024 has already served us with a work even stronger and more destabilizing than The Zone of Interest (2023)? An autopsy of the dehumanization of the enemy and the coldness of barbarity even more chilling than that offered by Jonathan Glazer? Only time will tell, but the emotional detonation caused by Intercepted, the second documentary feature from Ukrainian-Canadian filmmaker Oksana Karpovych, is at least comparable, as the film continues its tour of major international festivals. After a world premiere crowned with two special mentions at the Berlinale 2024 in the Forum section, and notably a presentation at CPH:DOX 2024, the film arrives in Canada this month to celebrate its premiere at Hot Docs 2024.
Between March and November 2022, Ukrainian intelligence services intercepted phone calls between Russian soldiers operating on Ukrainian soil and their loved ones. From these recordings, documentarian Oksana Karpovych crafted a film with a simple yet highly evocative set-up, finely executed and of uncommon power.
On screen, the camera captures moments of life in wartime. Stationary, the lens observes Ukrainian landscapes scarred by a nearly silent war but with highly visible effects. We see abandoned houses where life seems to have abruptly halted. The camera also captures scenes of life in which locals are forced to deal with the sometimes very fresh scars of war and bombings.
In terms of sound, intercepted phone recordings overlay these images, not showing the war in action but its aftermath. Russian soldiers communicate with their loved ones, often a mother or a partner left behind in Russia. Breaking down or puffing up their chests, they relay a reality that often seems burdensome to bear. Through bits and pieces, evasively or particularly revealing, they recount and confide about the reality of their operations.
What initially emerges from these snippets is the impunity and the fantasy of omnipotence of an army benefiting from the unwavering support of its government. Russian soldiers take over hastily abandoned places by civilians and pillage them with impunity. Their sense of superiority is reminiscent of the same logic at work in the actions of the Israeli army, precisely described in the works of Avi Moghrabi. In this sense, Intercepted is anchored in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict but also serves as a true manual on the psychology of aggressors in wartime, more generally.
It is this sense and pursuit of omnipotence that later drives the soldiers to delve into much more sordid and chilling details during their phone conversations. The murder of civilians, sometimes systematic, the torture inflicted on the elderly, and so on. For an hour and a half of feature-length film, confessions and claims follow one another, revealing a surge of savagery and barbarity, violence motivated by a visceral hatred of the enemy. “I no longer have pity. Even civilians no longer make me feel sorry,” admits a soldier who acknowledges killing civilians attempting to escape. To which a loved one retorts from the comfort of their home in Russia, “They chose their fate, I don’t feel sorry for them.” A mother shouts, “Fuck these people,” and then a young girl asks her father to “kill all Ukrainians and come home.” One might have thought they had reached the height of horror upon hearing a soldier boast about how he takes pleasure in torturing and killing Ukrainian civilians. But perhaps even more terrifying is the justification and encouragement from these loved ones. These women left behind, urging their soldiers to make kebabs from the corpses of Ukrainians. Their words are unbearable and shed light on a system that leads to the dehumanization of the other. The film does not explicitly state it, as it lets these Russians speak, but it is thus understood that significant propaganda efforts lead to such a hateful and dehumanizing perception of the Ukrainian neighbor. The abyssal cruelty of these cold monsters, some of whom admit to transforming and succumbing to their most abject instincts in wartime, is terrifying and makes watching Intercepted a real ordeal.
Hearing these men and women speak calmly, far from the heat of action, and congratulate themselves on the fate inflicted upon Ukrainians is perhaps even more unbearable than if we were to directly witness torture scenes.
And herein lies the great strength of the set-up implemented by Oksana Karpovych, juxtaposing the words of these soldiers with the results of their destruction. Unlike the remarkable In the Rearview (2023), which gave voice to Ukrainians forced into exile, Intercepted gives voice to the aggressors, the murderers. Ukrainians remain silent, the diegetic sound is very light, and we barely hear a distant murmur. The only voices we hear are those of Russian soldiers and their loved ones. It is these voices alone that overshadow the images of desolation, establishing a direct link between their Machiavellian and cold cruelty and the destruction of a country and its population. The set-up confers a performative value to these voices that decide the fate of Ukrainians.
The film cleverly suggests, without any clumsiness, that these brute-men may also be victims. Victims of a propaganda system and a State that sends them into battle without a clear strategy. Victims of an opaque military strategy that also costs them numerous losses. A reality far removed from the official narrative conveyed by Russian media, which claims Russian superiority over the adversary. And yet, like a recurring theme throughout the film, there is a subjective shot of a tank advancing through the Ukrainian countryside, illustrating the forced and inexorable march of a destructive and enduring military offensive.
Where does such a surge of violence and hatred lead us? Where can this unleashing of savagery take us? Beyond its Russo-Ukrainian context, Intercepted bears witness, serving as a manual for understanding the mentality that drives and sustains war.
Intercepted is an extremely tough piece. Oksana Karpovych proposes to tell the story of war differently than through images of destruction. The film captures what comes just before. The cruelty of the act, motivated by the orchestrated dehumanization of one people by another. And it is probably this engine of destruction that is the most terrifying.
