They Who Surround Us: Feel-Bad Canadian Cinema, with Authentic Ukrainian Roots
By Jim Slotek
Rating: B-minus
Relentlessly melancholic, with a tragic death in a small town triggering repressed memories and trauma, They Who Surround Us is of a piece with much of the pantheon of feel-bad Canadian cinema.
The fact that it’s in my ethnic wheelhouse, faithfully rendered, gives this beautifully shot directorial debut by actor Troy Ruptash a boost in its grade in this corner. So, non-Ukrainians, take that with a grain of sil.
A bereaved Roman (Troy Ruptash) seeks solace in a glass of whiskey in They Who Surround Us.
Director Ruptash stars as Roman, a farmer in Vegreville, Alberta (Ruptash’s hometown and arguably the most Ukrainian place in Canada). The movie opens in Ukraine in 1943, with a woman fleeing gunshots - presumably from Russian troops who were retaking the country from the Germans with extreme prejudice, with locals assumed to be collaborators (though none of this is spelled out in the film).
There is a Moses moment, with a baby set afloat in a basket in a river.
Flash ahead to the ‘80s, and we meet Roman at the funeral of his recently deceased wife. The details aren’t immediately forthcoming, but there is general grief, save from Roman himself, who is in a state of stoic shock, draining bottles of Canadian rye whiskey, while his son Mykola (Daniel Mazepa) is in the care of his Aunt Natalia (Ali Liebert) and Uncle Dimitry (Alex Feldman).
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Roman’s head is suddenly filled with unleashed memories, from that day in the Old Country to happy moments with his wife Kalyna (Vera Graziadei, who seems less a farmer’s wife than an angelically-lit toothpaste model, perhaps a deliberate decision to accentuate the air-brushing tricks of memory).
In some hands, all this time-hopping and hallucinating would be jarring. But cinematographer Kamal Derkaoui plays with lighting, washing out some scenes to allow colours to pop out, giving reality and fantasy a seamless connection.
Ruptash certainly directs himself well. Roman is clearly suffering a form of long-repressed PTSD, playing chicken with a train, getting arrested for drunk driving, becoming belligerent. And Ruptash is utterly convincing delivering this.
As for Vegreville itself, I haven’t been there since I was little, visiting relatives. But the scenes of Roman and Kalyna picking mushrooms is right out of the Ukrainian Prairie Home Companion (my parents used to pick buckets). There’s a second or so of babas making pierogis. And if the churchgoing locals are faking their Ukrainian, they’re doing a good job.
They Who Surround Us finds its lugubrious groove effectively. The problem is finding its way out. Roman is clearly a man in need of therapy, and lots of it. But with 91 minutes to play with, the last act is understandably rushed, highlighted by an awkwardly platitudinous speech by a dying soldier and a lot of emotional baggage landing perfectly placed on the carousel.
They Who Surround Us. Written and directed by Troy Ruptash. Starring Troy Ruptash, Daniel Mazepa and Ali Liebert. Opens Friday, August 27 in Toronto at the Cineplex Yonge & Dundas, in Vancouver at the Cineplex International Village, in Edmonton at the Cineplex North Edmonton, in Calgary at the Cineplex Eau Claire, in Saskatoon at the Roxy, and in Winnipeg at the Cineplex Kildonan Place.