Context
The film is set during and based upon the events of the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport of the Russo-Ukrainian war.[1] Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers had held the airport for four months since an earlier battle,[2] while surrounded by pro-Russian forces associated with the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).[3][a]
Although a ceasefire had been agreed to by the Minsk Protocol and confirmed by a memorandum (in effect 5 and 19 September 2014, respectively), minor skirmishes continued with increasing frequency that month.[8][9] In late September, pro-Russian forces began a concerted effort to retake the airport, using heavy artillery, armoured warfare, and building-to-building and close-quarters combat, capturing several airport buildings until their advance was halted in early October.[10][11][12] Repeated efforts to take the airport's terminals followed, and by the end of October the new terminal building was a charred frame, its upper four floors collapsed, with Ukrainian forces in the lower floors fighting off daily artillery bombardments, infantry attacks, and infiltrators coming through barricaded tunnels.[13]
I don’t know who is guarding the airport in Donetsk, but we haven’t been able to dislodge them for the past three months. We tried storming the complex, but every time we are . . .[pushed back] and forced to withdraw. I've no idea who is defending the airport, but they are not people. They are cyborgs.
Post from a DPR fighter on Ukraine Today[4]
Pro-Russian fighters who participated in the battle posted on social media about the tireless and almost superhuman enemy they faced, calling them "cyborgs".[4] Although intended as a slander, it went viral on social media, creating a patriotic national myth.[4] Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that it "became synonymous with courage, persistence, and patriotism of the Ukrainian warrior."[1] Cyborg was named "word of the year" by online Ukrainian dictionary MySlovo.[4]
The airport had lost much of its strategic value but remained important as a symbol for morale and to divert pro-Russian forces from other battlefronts.[13][1] The Ukrainian defenders held on until mid-January 2015, when the collapse of several buildings by pro-Russian sappers and a surge of Russian-supplied military vehicles resulted in significant casualties and made continued defence of the ruins impossible.[14][15][16]
Plot
Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers heading for Donetsk airport transfer to an armoured convoy at Pisky, jeering at a pro-Russian newscrew which falsely reports that the airport has fallen to DPR forces.[4] The convoy is attacked by artillery and the fighters bail out of their burning infantry fighting vehicle and take cover in a crater. They are rescued by Serpen – they are all referred to by nicknames – and brought to the airport in a passenger van.
Amid sporadic artillery fire, Hid takes the newcomers on a tour of the airport buildings. They encounter another group who were forced out of a duty-free shop by the enemy, and reinforce them. Hid finds and disarms an improvised explosive device and they retake the duty-free, inflicting casualties on the separatists who retreat down escalators. They resupply with the separatists' Russian-supplied ammunition and continue their tour with a visit to the badly damaged air traffic control tower which overlooks the airport.
Having free time before their next assignment, Subota and Staryi share vodka pilfered from the duty-free. Hid reveals a freezer holding the bodies of the first enemy soldiers killed, held for an exchange but the DPR didn't want them. A cook called Borshch complains at not having a lid for his pot, which collects dust with every artillery blast that shakes the building.
Serpen is given command and asks for their motivations for fighting. Staryi is initially disinclined, but then explains that he can't make sense of the doublespeak covering Russian aggression, of being dominated by a "brother nation", and that he had to volunteer when his son did. Subota, a soldier, explains that he took an oath and that to him it is a matter of honour and duty. Mars feels hatred toward the murderous invaders and seeks to avenge the death of his best friend.
Mazhor, who had impatiently left after a disagreement with Serpen, finds a Russian body in a runway crater. The dead man's cellphone blares, attracting the enemy. Mazhor is able to kill a Russian and wound a separatist, steal their car, and race back to the airport terminal under enemy fire. Serpen recognizes Mazhor and orders the Ukrainians to hold their fire and let him approach. While Mazhor and Serpen argue over his actions, Mars goes to the captured separatist and shoots him to death.
Mazhor is to be sent away for disobeying orders and endangering the unit. Mazhor blames Serpen and his entire generation for the state of Ukraine, accusing him of intolerance and disparaging progressive European values. Mars, who had become despondent, suffers a heart attack. Mars is loaded onto an evacuation vehicle with the wounded; Mazhor gives Staryi an assault rifle he retrieved from a dead Russian and is permitted to stay.
A physician called Psykh encourages the men to talk to each other. Psykh joined the military after attending the Euromaidan on the day it was prohibited, inspired by the energy of those standing for change. Serpen and Mazhor argue again, and Serpen accuses Mazhor of being a pseudo-liberal idealist who knows little of the country's history or its power dynamics, and blames his generation for Ukraine's initial defeats in the war.
The squad return to the duty-free shop to watch for the separatists who have been trapped on a lower floor for several days. Unable to goad them out, Staryi begins loudly singing, emboldening the separatists who climb the escalators. Staryi notices them and smoothly arms himself and opens fire, joined by the others. The unit descends and shoot the other separatists there, then are ordered to find the last separatist who escaped.
Mazhor detains a lone soldier who he suspects is a separatist. An attack on the terminal is launched and a Russian tank shell's concussive blast knocks Mazhor out, presumably killing his prisoner. Enemies advance and the squad fight while retreating into the airport terminal. Mazhor awakens alongside another wounded soldier and is told that the Ukrainians won the battle; that the separatist forces took the terminal but were then pushed back out.[b] The worst of the wounded had been evacuated but there was no room for them.
The rest of the squad engage in a tense prisoner exchange with the enemy. Hid becomes extremely agitated on recognizing one of the enemy's prisoners. They keep this man off the record and Hid beats him in revenge as the man had tortured Hid earlier in the war, physically with a knife and mentally by convincing Hid that he was to be executed. Serpen questions the separatist, who believes that they are fascists and that they've been in a civil war since the USSR was divided. Serpen lets Mazhor decide what to do with the separatist, and they release him but he is immediately shot by a Russian sniper.
Intelligence has been received that DPR forces are going to burn the airport to the ground at dawn with Russian TOS-1 rocket artillery.[4] No withdrawal order has been given, but the members of the squad are each given permission to leave. Giving humble reasons, they each decide to stay.[c] They put their affairs in order, phoning family members. Psykh tries to understand how both sides can think they're good and fighting evil.
The squad is relieved to see tanks advancing upon the airport instead of the rocket systems, so much that Mazhor and Hid sing as they prepare their weapons. Headquarters is furious at the broken cease fire and gives permission to "brutally punish the violators". A Ukrainian tank moves into a protected position and exchanges fire; when it is disabled, the squad rescue its crew. Subota is wounded and while treated by a battlefield medic, posts a selfie which goes viral.
Serpen, after ordering Mazhor to evacuate Subota, phones his daughter. While pacing to get a better signal he comes under a sniper's crosshairs and is fatally shot. The phone rings and the commander informs Serpen's wife. The squad mourns. Mazhor evacuates Subota along with Serpens body, through enemy fire. In the ruins of Pisky, a chaplain makes a moving speech over Serpen's body.[19]
Later, the squad is reinforced and the newcomers are asked about their motivations. Among them is Mazhor. A folk song is heard as the group are taken on a tour.
Development and writing
The project was launched on 19 October 2014, when fighting at the airport was escalating.[19] Director Akhtem Seitablayev encountered a great deal of doubt about the project from those who questioned the making of the movie while the conflict was ongoing, feeling that it was "too soon". However, he also received letters of encouragement from soldiers and their families.[19]
Screenwriter Nataliya Vorozhbyt wrote the story about a combat alert mission which began in September 2014.[2] Vorozhbyt interviewed many of the airport's defenders[19] and was introduced to fighters in the region by technical consultant Andriy Sharaskin.[2] The first draft of the script was completed on 15 July 2015.[19]
The film was made primarily for a domestic audience, but also to bring awareness to the story internationally.[2] The script was structured to be understandable to a Western audience.[19]
Two-fifths of the heroes speak Russian, reflecting that many of the airport's defenders did not speak Ukrainian.[19]
Production
The film was produced by Ivanna Diadiura.[20] Half of the film's 47,000,000 Ukrainian hryvnia (US$1.8 million) budget was financed by the Ukrainian State Film Agency (Derzhkino),[1][19] with additional financing by Idas Film, telecom company Kyivstar, and the Georgian company TUTA.[19] Significant assistance was provided by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,[1] including permissions and heavy military equipment for filming.[19] Although the film was financed by the Ukrainian government and closely follows their official account of events,[1] Seitablayev stated that Vorozhbyt was given complete freedom in writing the script and there was no state censorship.[19]
Two-thirds of the movie were shot in Kyiv Oblast.[2] Parts of the movie were shot in the closed Chernihiv Shestovytsia Airport and the Gonchariv military training ground.[19] Veterans of the battle were present on each day of shooting for consultation.[20]
Seitablayev stated that the film is about the "choice between the Soviet past and the European future"[19] and that the film's creators sought to display the determination of the characters and convey the passion behind their reasons for fighting for Ukraine.[1]
About four hours of high-quality material was filmed. Seitablayev's director's cut was 140 minutes. He appealed to his mentor, Andrii Donchyk [uk], who edited the film to 120 minutes. Then, together, they made the final edit of 113 minutes.[19]
Release
Derzhkino provided ₴550,000 for the film's promotion, a then-unprecedented amount for the state agency. The film was included in the Days of Ukrainian Cinema programs held internationally.[21]
The first official teaser trailer for the movie was released on 15 August 2017.[22][better source needed] The first public screening was held on 30 November 2017 in Lviv.[21] It was released on 7 December 2017[1] the second anniversary of the fall of the airport's old terminal.[2]
The film was dedicated to the defence of Ukraine,[1] to every defender and volunteer and their family members.[19]
The production's team and the Come Back Alive Foundation («Повернись живим») organized the #ICare! (#ЯНебайдужий!) initiative, which set aside 5 hryvnias from each ticket purchased for the movie to help the families of those killed in the battle for Donetsk airport.[21][19] This totalled more than a half-million hryvnias from the film's opening week.[20]
Controversies
There was some controversy with theatres in Chernivtsi allegedly refusing to screen the film under various pretences.[19]
The film's creators were accused by author Serhii Loiko of plagiarism and copying storylines from his book Airport. Seitablayev refuted this with the project's timeline, noting that the first draft of the script was written almost a year before the book's publication.[19]
Reception
Box office
Mariupol, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Lviv, Chernihiv and Ternopil each initially had only one theatre screening the film on opening day, but quickly expanded to multiple screens due to public demand.[19] The movie ranked first at the (Ukrainian) box office (earning US$302,000[citation needed]) in its opening week.[20]
The film brought in 8.2 million hryvnias at the Ukrainian box office in the first weekend, which was a record for a domestic film according to the Ukrainian State Film Agency.[19]
Critical response
Christopher Miller of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty commented on the movie: "While clearly meant to drum up support for the war effort, Cyborgs isn't entirely propagandistic". He noted the variation of heroic and antiheroic actions by the Ukrainian soldiers and that dialog fluctuates between Russian and Ukrainian throughout the course of the film.[1]
Film critic Daria Badior felt that the film's narrative was weak and the film forgettable, though noted that "It's too early to respond objectively [to the war]".[1]
Awards
Cyborgs received six Golden Dzygas at the 2018 Ukrainian National Film Awards, including best film, best actor (for Vyacheslav Dovzhenko), best supporting actor (Viktor Zhdanov), best screenplay, and two technical awards.[23]
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