Pamfir’s Oath ★★★ ½
DRAMA (2022)
Director: Dmitry Sukolitsky Sobchuk
Interpretations: Rima Zyubina, Oleksandr Yachedyuk

Sobchuk’s cinematography in his debut, while somewhat pretentious in some cases, is surprisingly creative.

Dmytro Sukolitky Shobchuk’s promising debut comes out of Ukraine this week, a well-crafted, solid film that isn’t afraid to tackle different topics at the same time. On the eve of the local pagan carnival, Pamfir returns to his village on the Romanian-Ukrainian border after several months of work abroad.

However, his teenage son’s recklessness will lead to disaster, and Pamfir will return to his former illegal activities (cigarette smuggling to Romania) to make amends to the local bosses, who happen to be largely identified with the female police officers of the place. The climax of the drama will be the day of the carnival, when the hero will make his last attempt at redemption.

The Ukrainian film plunges us right into the atmosphere of a poor place where there are a lot of smartphones, but no paved roads, and almost everyone, “except for small children and the elderly”, is engaged in smuggling. Pamfir himself, although now on a straight path, is a veteran… of the profession, and his elderly – and aloof – mother is the mastermind(!) of the main smuggling organization. In general, family relations are at the center here, in a film that starts from the personal and local in order to reach the eternal, taking on the outlines of an ancient tragedy.

On the other hand, the conflict between divine and human justice also plays a role. The gigantic but basically kind Pamfir only seems to believe in the vast power hidden in his hands, unlike his deeply God-fearing wife. At the same time, the pagan tradition of carnival with monstrous masks reveals links with the primordial past, which, however, is not entirely alien to what is happening today. After all, devotion to the family, which motivates almost all the actions of the protagonist, is sacred to all religions at all times.

Finally, it is worth noting that Sobchuk’s pace and cinematography itself are concerned. The latter, although a little pompous in some cases – let’s not forget that this is a debut – is remarkably creative, and the economy of the film, that is, the pace, is sustained almost flawlessly, without unnecessary platitudes and yawns.