Intercepted: Death is real when the bravado of war fades!

To mark the third year of the Ukraine invasion, the Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh and the Alliance Francaise, Dhaka, jointly organised the showing of Intercepted – a poignant Canadian-Ukrainian and French fly on the wall docu-film based on thousands of phone calls made by Russian soldiers, intercepted surreptitiously by Ukrainian intelligence.

Speaking before the screening, Ambassador of the European Union to Bangladesh, Michael Miller emphasised EU’s unwavering support for Ukraine, saying: “The act of aggression has had far reaching impact as far as Bangladesh, disrupting energy markets, fertiliser markets, triggering staggering inflation.”

Appeasement will be absolutely the wrong approach to take vis-à-vis Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, added the EU envoy.

Director of Alliance Francaise, Francois Grosjean, aired his hope for an end to the aggression, calling for concerted international action.

As the conflict rages, with no concrete end in sight, the film is unique window to the aggression as it captures the grim realities of war on one side, and on the other, depicts through a plethora of contrasting scenes, the stoic determination of the people of Ukraine to carry on with life.
This film is not the conventional documentary of war in the sense that gratuitous blood, gore and violence are shunned, although the recorded phone conversations create the dehumanising impact of conflict and how political indoctrination aimed at justifying war can completely dominate the narrative among the general people, misleading them into believing what they are doing is right.

In fact, the calm voice on the phone relating a torture scene with a feminine voice on the other side approving it underline what war does to people.  

In the phone conversations, the Ukrainian effort to defend their country is summarily disparaged, while their soldiers and general people are demonised with the racial slur ‘Khokhol’.

On the phone, expletives and four letter words are used at random and, there’s also an effusive appreciation for the simple pleasures of life like ice cream and juice. These interactions about moments of savouring a few moment of the ‘normal’ life often appear to be a desperate desire to go back home.

While some openly ask the motive of the war, others allude to the futility of it all through the pretence of the soldier’s swagger.

War brutalises but even in that dehumanised existence, the yearning for all of the madness to end can never be suppressed fully.

Sometimes, that craving is camouflaged under unnecessary utterance of swear words, reminding the audience of ‘lalochezia’ – the usage of vulgar language to relieve stress.

As Intercepted moves to depict the advanced stages of the aggression, the initial braggadocio is overtaken by the inevitability of death.

All soldiers know, once in battle, death is never far but in Intercepted, the acceptance of the end is sometimes hard for the Russian soldiers because it becomes clear from their conversation that slowly, and inexorably, the hollowness of the invasion is something they are struggling to live with.
In one of the conversations, the hysteria in the female voice on the other end is palpable as the voice of the soldier at the front appears to be resigned to the inevitable.

The most striking aspect of the film is its ability to provide relief from the disturbing reality of war with silent, scenes of a desolate landscape.
The empty houses bearing signs of bombardment, ransacking and pillaging, offer a surreal aesthetic respite. The abandoned shell of a tank, used by a man, possibly as protection, does not seem incongruous and blends with the barren landscape.

This is almost a cathartic break, allowing the audience to grasp what they had seen and then balance out the feeling of horror with a moment of placidity, observed Saifullah, senior reporter for UNB.  

Women sitting inside a bunker, waiting for a frugal meal, a few families luxuriating by the river, people going about their daily work, fishing from the top of a bombed bridge create a collage of fortitude topped with quiet defiance. There is never the jingoistic shout to denounce the enemy or chant for victory but the ‘never say die’ mentality is an ever present leitmotif.

From the Ukrainian flag fluttering in front of what seems to be an abandoned gas station to the general people embracing war imposed hardship – the underlying message is that of dogged defiance, said film critic Moinuddin Khaled.

The director Oksana Karpovych deserves kudos for her innovative style, especially the camera shots which, on dark long roads, were taken, most probably from Ukrainian tanks.

When asked to comment on the documentary, Mamur Ar Rashid, said, “One unsaid message of the film is perhaps the political impasse created globally and the fact that in a war, soldiers are treated like killing machines, which they are not. They are humans and under that hard macho surface is always that humane soul which is poisoned by false political rhetoric.”
Intercepted was first released in February 2024, in Berlin.  

* Towheed Feroze is a former journalist.