Discover the trailer for Butterfly Vision, a poignant drama set against the backdrop of war in the Donbass.
Butterfly Vision is the first feature film by Ukrainian filmmaker Maksym Nakonechnyi. Presented at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section, the work was very noticed.
The film tells the story of Lilia, a soldier who returns to her family after several months of captivity in the Donbass. The story, which shows us the city of kyiv under the bombs in the visions of its main character, has unfortunately taken on an almost prophetic dimension since the Russian invasion.
The idea for this film was born in 2018 when Maksym Nakonechnyi was editing a documentary on Ukrainian women engaged in war.
WOMEN IN WAR
“One of them said that she had made a deal with her fellow fighters: they had to kill her rather than let her be taken prisoner by the enemy. It made me think about what awaits a woman soldier when captured by the enemy, and how it could be worse than death.
In constructing the plot, I understood that I wanted to tell a story about hope and humanity despite totally desperate circumstances.”explains the director.
Maksym Nakonechnyi chose to counterbalance the harshness of Butterfly Vision’s story with surreal elements. The realistic representation of the life of the characters thus comes up against the scenes of surreal dreams, interspersed throughout the film.
SURREALISM
“Lilia’s dreams reveal her deeply buried trauma but also her strength. Deeply feeling her experience, her decisions and her emotions gives her a clearer view of herself and reality, and allows her to understand that a war on a larger scale is inevitable”analyzes the director.
Finally, note that Butterfly is Lilia’s code name. The title thus reflects the great degree of awareness of the character vis-à-vis his situation, his responsibility for his actions and his own existence.
“It expresses her ability to understand her true nature and the reality that surrounds her. Having observed the war primarily from the sky, Lilia manages to see her role in it with some distance”says Maksym Nakonechnyi.