Vitaliy Manskiy is a Soviet-born Ukrainian native filmmaker living primarily in Moscow. After the Maidan revolution, he makes his way back home to visit his family spread over the country. Luckily for us, he’s brought his camera along. His 2014-15 visit to his home country jumps between Lviv, separatist Donbas, Odesa, and Sevastopol as he visits his extended family.
Through interviews and documentation of his family members, we’re given a complicated web of history, culture, beliefs, nationalism, and politics which exemplifies the close relations between Ukraine and Russia. Many simplify the multifaceted relations between the nations as a conflict with ‘two sides.’ Manskiy’s examination of his relatives and their political stances shows us that there are as many perspectives on the conflict and the two nations as there are people to ask.
Close Relation’s most intriguing aspect is that of ethnic determination. Americans are familiar with this topic judging by the popularity of services like Ancestry.com. Manskiy’s nuclear family mirrors the American perspective, with his grandmother saying that being born in Ukraine is what makes a person Ukranian. She takes this idea to an extreme, denying her Lithuanian heritage. Other extended family members take the other extreme, his aunt easily identifying as Russian after the addition of Crimea to the Russian Federation.
Most of Manskiy’s family, however, lies somewhere in the middle. Each individual varies politically: One of his aunts is a staunch communist, while one of his cousins shares opinions that border on nazi apologia. Manskiy uses these disparate points of view to illustrate how individual lives come together to form a broader conflict. While the cinematography was typically stunning and the subjects were interesting, the film did seem to drag on toward the end. Besides pacing, there are no other issues. Where many see only a cold-war-esque ‘us vs. them’ conflict, Close Relations invites us to see a diversity of thought. Highly Recommended.
What type of college instructors could use this title?
Close Relations would be most useful to History instructors looking at the Soviet Union and its breakup. Those studying the War in Ukraine may want to use this title as background knowledge.
Where does this title belong on public library shelves?
Close Relations would fit well in modern history, biography, ethnography, and European documentary collections.
What is the retail price and/or Public Performance License fee?
Vimeo Rental: $3.99 Vimeo Purchase: $9.99 / Available for previewing and streaming on Docuseek2