KLONDIKE – Review by Justina Walford
When we see expectant parents, we think of nurseries and colorful mobiles with the laughter of nervous parents emotionally in sync and awaiting their important day. But in the dark of Klondike’s opening scene, it doesn’t take long to realize that this typical expectant parents’ conversation is not what we expect.
The couple has a hole in their house. The environment is bleak and brown. And their conversation is interrupted by a loud boom.
It is July 2014 in eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border. That boom is the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 which was caused by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. This child was conceived in peace and will be born in war. The potential birth of this child becomes not only an unthinkable chapter in the story of war but is also a symbol of Tolik and Irka’s tenuous grasp on hope.
So now we expect a drama with action and blood. But no. Again, we are turned around by the dry, absurdist wit of writer and director Maryna Er Gorbach, and we see this couple struggle with the mundane as much as with the mind games of politics and war.
Fear less for the oh-so-close-to-birth Irka and more for the debatable dim bulb that is Tolik. He loves his wife, but his fear makes every one of his choices the most dangerous moments of the film. Irka cleans the house after the crash and throughout the film as if her sole purpose is to create normality for her future child. Her only confidant worth talking to is Maya, the cow she struggles to milk – two women existing with their fear and grit.
While on the other side, Tolik debates weakly with his friend over the use of the one functioning car while his friend claims to know the world of war. “When the Russians come, we will live like nobles.” The men play their games in this war, mainly as pawns, while Irka continues on, knowing the only important action is the presence to survive. Continue reading on THE FEMALE GAZE
ABOUT JUSTINA WALFORD
An award-winning writer of screen and stage, Justina Walford was also the Founder and Festival Director of Women Texas Film Festival for the life of the fest and she was programming director of Oxford Film Festival for two years. A lover of adrenaline-filled movies since she could understand the word “zombie,” she is particularly drawn to strong women’s voices in alternative genres such as horror, action, and science fiction.
