French Documentarian Investigates the Real-life Fallout of the Attacks on Ukraine
DIRECTED BY BERNARD-HENRY LÉVY/FRENCH/2023
DVD STREET DATE: MARCH 12, 2024/COHEN MEDIA (via Kino Lorber)
In the video clip below, I discuss Bernard-Henry Lévy’s Glory to the Heroes, a documentary record of Ukraine’s military resistance to the Russian invasion of their territory that escalated dramatically in early 2022. This film focuses on the state of the war as it stood in the summer of 2023, and represents a continuation of a series that Lévy began with Why Ukraine? and Slava Ukraini, both released in 2022 and covering events of that same year. The director himself also appears frequently in these films (I’m assuming so for Why Ukraine?, which I haven’t seen, since this seems to be Lévy’s method), providing voiceover narration throughout, conducting interviews, and getting as close as he can to the action without placing himself directly in harm’s way. Some may see his direct involvement in just about every segment of the film as a bit self-aggrandizing and I can’t fully dispute the validity of such critiques.
But I didn’t mind having him serve as my guide to the various situations he captured on video. He’s an attentive observer, clearly sympathetic to the plight that the people of Ukraine are enduring, and he understands the extremely high stakes of this conflict. None of the scenes felt rehearsed, staged or overly performative, even when some of the scenes actually did involve musicians singing ballads of encouragement to war-weary combatants at a brief retreat just far enough behind the front lines to allow for a bit of relaxation. (Though a few days after that moment was recorded, the house where it took place was gutted by a missile attack.) What we get in Glory to the Heroes is an admirably wide-ranging and diverse portraits of how the nation is weathering this brutal and unjustifiable assault, from direct resistance in armed combat to the efforts of local villagers who choose to remain in homes now located in active warzones to minimize risk, maintain morale, and meet their simple survival needs.
Some of the events captured here include the flooding of Kherson that followed destruction of the Kakhova Dam in June 2023, a look at drone warfare tactics, a visit the historic cultural capital of Odesa after one of its Orthodox cathedrals was struck by a missile, interviews with a group of young women who were confined in hellish conditions in the basement of their school for several months in early 2022 after Russian troops occupied their village, and more.
At a time when the US government’s ability to provide military support to Ukraine is being throttled by a minority of elected officials who refuse to allow a vote to authorize those funds, this film can make for very frustrating viewing. It’s clear from what we see on screen that the Ukrainian effort to defend their nation and preserve their independence from Putin’s tyrannical authority is justified and vital to setting a limit to the Russian leader’s ambitions. And it’s equally plain that the people we see speak on Ukraine’s behalf are capable of winning, determined to stand strong, and committed to the profound work of protecting and eventually rebuilding their society that lies ahead for them.
What they need, from us, from Europe, are the resources necessary to push back and eventually expel the Russian troops. Obviously, no matter how compelling the images and ideas presented in Glory to the Heroes, a 90-minute documentary can’t do much on its own to secure those funds. But it could move more of us to think through the issues raised by this war and its potential outcomes. An increased awareness and enhanced sense of emergency about what’s at risk may persuade those in positions of power to address Ukraine’s needs. Watching this film would also introduce the politicians to the courageous people that their inaction would betray. Glory to the Heroes as a film stands as a distinct and self-contained piece of work, but it just as surely appears to be a chapter in a story that’s still being told, with no clear sense at the moment of what the ending will be.
To watch the film, it’s now available on DVD, released by the Cohen Media Group in their “Contemporary Classics” line and distributed by Kino Lorber. Other than a theatrical trailer (and a few random trailers that annoyingly force-load themselves on start-up) the disc has no special features. Dialog is in Ukrainian, French, and English, with optional English subtitles. Glory to the Heroes is also available to rent or purchase on the Kino Now, Prime Video, and AppleTV streaming services.