The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent world-shaking war still in progress is about to mark its first anniversary on February 24, right in the middle of the Berlin Film Festival. It comes as no surprise that the Berlinale, with its long history of cultural politics rooted in Eastern Europe and the Cold War, should make Ukrainian cinema a focal point this year, and in this context the documentary Superpower, co-directed by Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman and screened as a Berlinale Special Gala, adds an outsider’s point of view on the country’s battle for freedom and independence. But apart from audience members who have not been following the media coverage of the war this past year, and one wonders who they could be, it has little if anything new to add to our understanding of the conflict.
The main point of this activist film is clearly enunciated in the closing scenes, which show Penn the Hollywood star back home and using his influence to speak across America, even in such unlikely venues as the TV studio of ultra-conservative Fox News host Sean Hannity and the Richard Nixon library. His message? That Ukraine is a land of brave men and women who have united despite their political differences to defend democracy, and America has a great lesson to learn from them, as well as the moral responsibility to support their fight with all the weaponry they need to win. It’s a message many viewers can get behind, even if its urgency seems primarily aimed at Pres. Biden’s White House.
But Superpower struggles to find its own voice as a film, even given its windy two-hour running time. The first 45 minutes offer a fast-moving but utterly familiar summary of how the invasion got started. Amid widespread disbelief that Russia’s autocrat Putin would go ahead and pull the trigger – a skepticism shared by Penn and his high-level diplomatic contacts just days before the war began – we see a recap of some key moments as covered by international news organizations. There are Putin’s stony-faced press conferences demanding Ukrainian compliance with Russia’s agenda. Excerpts from Zelensky’s career as a comic actor, culminating with his prophetic TV role as an ordinary young man who gets elected president. Trump’s attempt to barter U.S. military aid in return for Zelensky supplying him with dirt on his political opponent (“I would like you to do us a favor…”) And so on, all the way to the actor’s landslide victory in 2019 and his so-so early performance as an anti-corruption president. Even those who voted for him doubt he has the guts to stand up to Putin.
It gets a little more interesting as we start to follow Penn and a small film crew as they jump in and out of Kyiv and war zones, reappearing in Los Angeles and New York to plan their next moves. It is questionable, though, whether the best way to spread the filmmakers’ message of faith in democracy is to put Penn at the center of every live scene. When finally, after talking to mayors, ambassadors, organizational heads and fighter jet pilots, the American star is able to meet with Zelensky in his bunker on Day 2 of the war, they pretty much share screen time. It leaves the uncomfortable feeling that Zelensky is being cast as a fellow actor and star who, just like Sean Penn, finds himself an accidental protagonist on the stage of world history — surely a major error of emphasis.
At the same time, it’s true that Penn’s comments and questions are always sensitive and apt, exuding his real commitment to the Ukrainian cause and more in general to defending democracy in the world.
The movie crew has barely reached Kyiv when rumors of war turn into sickening reality. The camera stays focused on Penn’s rugged face as they powwow in the cold outside the Hyatt Regency hotel, after three big explosions are heard in the city. Their ultimate decision to jump in a limo and drive to the InterContinental to question journalists reeks of irony. Yet one can’t help but admire the Penn’s courage in returning to Ukraine time and again for two more increasingly personal interviews with the president, and for demanding to be taken to the front line, where we get some close-ups of trench warfare in the East.
Camerawork is credited to seven different camera operators, with the generally jumpy, handheld look of the Ukrainian scenes creating a nervous atmosphere of hurry and emergency, where a drink and a cigarette are always at hand. The pace remains lively through to the end, with the brisk editing being considerably aided by Justin Melland’s urgent score.
Directors: Sean Penn, Aaron Kaufman
Producers: Billy Smith, Sergei Bespalov, Danny Gabai, Lauren Tep
Cinematography: Aaron Kaufman, James Mills, Serhiy Morgunov, Austin Otto, J. B. Rutgarama, Lauren Terp, William Voermann
Editing: Carlos Haynes, Victoria Lesiw, Malcolm Hearn
Music: Justin Melland
Production companies: Vice Studios, Aldamisa Entertainment, Fifth Season
World Sales: Fifth Season
Venue: Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale Special Gala)
In English Ukrainian, Russian
115 minutes
