FILM REVIEW: Amy Grappell's "Light From the East" (05/21/06)

FILM REVIEW: Amy Grappell's "Light From the East"

by David Bogoslaw

It's well-known that artists enjoy an importance in oppressed societies that is the envy of their counterparts in democratic states, who are mostly ignored. Where freedom of speech is lacking, audiences are all the more receptive to what writers, actors and other artists have to say, as it's usually a proxy for their own unrealized dreams.

"Light From the East," the new documentary that was shown at the Pioneer Theater in Manhattan's East Village, is a meditation on the meaning of freedom and the role of the artist in inspiring people to translate that often-abstract concept into a daily reality in their lives.

In the summer of 1991 the Soviet Union opened its doors for the first time since the Cold War to a troupe of actors from the Yara Arts Group from La MaMa Theater in New York. They had come to Kyiv to collaborate with a Ukrainian theater company in staging a play celebrating the life and work of Les Kurbas, the father of Ukraine's avant-garde theater. For daring to resist Stalin's crackdown on any artistic expression that didn't conform to Soviet ideology, Kurbas had been arrested and eventually murdered in one of Stalin's purges in 1937.

Amy Grappell, who wrote and directed the film, was a member of La MaMa Theater and the film, on the surface, is largely a document of her journey to a deeper appreciation of Kurbas' legacy in light of political events that play out during the troupe's visit. The deeper meaning of the artistic freedom for which Kurbas struggled becomes more relevant as she and her colleagues witness and try to make sense of those events.

Two weeks into rehearsals, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is kidnapped in a military coup that tries to restore power to Communist hardliners, threatening to unravel the political openness that was emerging as a result of his reforms. By juxtaposing scenes showing news coverage of the coup and the actors' responses to it with archival footage and stills of Kurbas' productions, Grappell gives a heightened sense of urgency to the American actors' decision to stay in Ukraine and go ahead with their production against the advice of the U.S. Consulate.

For young Ukrainians getting their first taste of political breathing room under glasnost in the early 1990s, freedom may have meant merely the ability to hold a job and earn money without cozying up to the Communist Party that controlled the economy in the darkest days of the Soviet regime. But for artists such as a well-known set designer and a painter forced into hiding, both of whom Ms. Grappell interviews, its meaning is much more profound.

"Light From the East" may frustrate viewers seeking a comprehensive understanding of the failed coup and its aftermath or of Ukrainian history or those hoping for a fleshed-out portrait of Kurbas and his theatrical vision, as the film barely skims the surface of these themes. But, as a meditation that keeps circling back to the same points in an attempt to grasp how different Ukrainians experience freedom, it is a moving record of a particular moment in time, when the possibilities of a post-Soviet world were only beginning to be imagined.

Underscoring the film's grand themes are snapshots of the quiet strength and determination of ordinary Ukrainians in the face of hardships. Asked what their humanistic hopes are, a group of middle-aged women explain that singing helps them maintain hope before breaking into a mournful song about a mistreated cuckoo bird.

Many of the most affecting moments center on Natalia, the historian of the Ukrainian theater company who is hosting Ms. Grappell in the small apartment she shares with her mother. She agrees to serve as an interpreter as Ms. Grappell ventures into the streets of Kyiv during breaks between rehearsals to find out what ordinary Ukrainian citizens think of all the political changes sweeping their republic.

Natalia's face, often deep in thought, reveals a tempest of conflicting emotions about the unfolding events. She makes little effort to conceal her disdain when Ms. Grappell, trying to understand how Mr. Gorbachev could have been toppled, asks, "Does this happen often? This is a pretty big deal, right?" She is melancholy and a bit frightened when she says that instead of a time for singing, it may be time for Ukrainians to shed some blood. And she can't resist adding her editorial judgments when translating ordinary citizens' comments for Ms. Grappell, critical of what she sees as the older generation's overly accepting attitude toward Ukraine's past sufferings under the Soviets.

Natalia is a compelling character and Christian Moore's camera is wise to return to her again and again to capture her response to the evolving situation. The affectionately disobedient daughter of a mother dedicated to Communist ideology, she embodies the rich complexity and internal contradictions of the Ukrainian people. However dismissive she is of the old guard, which she calls stupid enough to mythologize Lenin, she declares her pride in the "very clever, powerful [Ukrainian] nation,'' whose continual submission to an "absurd" Soviet regime she admits is bewildering.

The film works best when it highlights the intersections between the personal and the political. On a train to Lviv, one young Ukrainian actor explains that freedom for him will come only after "a long, long time of working on myself to break down my complexes," drilled into him since childhood by state instititions. His insight offers a sobering counterpoint to the following scene of people marching through the streets of Lviv, after Ukraine has declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

Although the events depicted in "Light From the East" occurred 15 years ago, Ukrainians are still trying to come to terms with their deeper meaning, as the Orange Revolution of two years ago reminds us.

David Bogoslaw is a freelance writer and filmmaker based in Brooklyn. He has written theater and dance reviews for OffOffOff.com, a web site covering alternative arts and entertainment in New York. His short film, "Seeing," was awarded a bronze medal at the Brno 16 Film Festival in the Czech Republic in 1993. He has a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University.

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