The 3 Rooms of Melancholia
The brutality inflicted on children during Russia’s wars with the breakaway republic of Chechnya is laid bare in Finnish director Pirjo Honkasalo’s documentary triptych, which is relentlessly bleak but also grimly compelling and strikingly beautiful. Alternating between color and monochrome, it comprises self-contained chapters shot at a juvenile military academy near St. Petersburg; in the ruins of the Chechen capital, Grozny; and at a home for war orphans. Gird yourself for stark accounts of inhuman violations committed by Russian soldiers in this award-winning depiction of hell on Earth.
Pirkko Saisio
- Notes From Lukas DhontSometimes there are scenes that stay with us. We may forget big parts of a film, but there are scenes that stick. There is a scene in this film of a boy saying goodbye to his mother that replays in my head way too often. Probably because it’s one of my primal fears. This film in three pieces illuminates the emotional devastation wrought on youngsters who have little or no understanding of the historical and political reasons behind a conflict, and it shows how the seeds of hatred are instilled in young minds.
