"No one was expecting to have kids beaten at 4 o'clock in the morning, no one was expecting people to be kidnapped or killed. For centuries, it has been at the center of a tug-of-war between powers seeking to control its rich lands and access to the Black Sea. There's a huge difference between seeing 20 or 30 upsetting seconds on the evening news now and then and watching a step-by-step descent into sheer anarchy. You'd swear the Maidan revolution was just a bunch of bright-eyed youths with guitars and facepaint, like a European version of Occupy Wall Street. ... Hardware Buying Guides Latest Game Reviews. It's hard to watch this film - too many memories. Trailer for the documentary Winter on Fire.. Chronicling events that unfolded over 93 days in 2013 and 2014, Netflix Original Documentary Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom witnesses the formation of a new civil rights movement in Ukraine. The film emphasizes the diversity of the protestors, which include people from all over Ukraine and many different walks of life, from professionals to students to laborers to clergy. He has written for, Mr. © 2020 METACRITIC, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. This is a Ukrainian revolution entirely from the point of view of the citizens. Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror. In “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” — debuting theatrically and on Netflix October 9 — a prematurely grown-up 12-year-old sees the truth of the 2013-14 Ukrainian revolution. 2014's Maidan Massacre triggered a bloody uprising that ousted president Viktor Yanukovych and … We hear almost nothing of the influence of foreign powers in the Ukrainian struggle, and very little of what was going on within the Ukrainian Parliament at the time Kiev’s streets were roiling. Evgeny Afineevsky offers viewers an unflinching look at the front lines of Ukraine's unrest. Winter on Fire . Like with 2013’s “The Square,” which centered on the ongoing crisis happening in Egypt, to watch ‘Winter on Fire’ is to watch a revolution in progress. Perhaps the Firestone 2 … The frequently used interview segments not only help chronicle and explain the revolt as it unfolded, they also give us a sense of who these protestors were, as well as their sincerity and dedication to their cause. I had already watched a fair amount of maidan footage on youtube, so I was not expecting this to be anything new to me, and the first 30 minutes was some of what I had already seen, but it does get better as it goes along, and by the end it was extremely powerful, with stuff I had never seen before. Read 202 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. “Winter on Fire” offers a more conventionally presented and factually informative account of the Kiev uprising than Sergei Loznitsa’s alluringly formalistic “Maidan.” Yet it misses a wider view that might have complicated and undercut its noble but simplistic unity-of-the people uplift. The second comprises interviews with participants that were filmed after the revolt’s conclusion and intercut throughout the film. THIS GETTING SO MANY GREEN REVIEWS IS REAL PROOF OF THE END OF HUMANITY! In “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” — debuting theatrically and on Netflix October 9 — a prematurely grown-up 12-year-old sees the truth of … They paid a high price but they had a real impact, and that represents a bit of hope for all of us. Mary’s review published on Letterboxd: I was shocked to find myself crying a lot during this because it's so moving, the level of organization and unity shown by normal citizens who simply wanted to … Documentaries often tend to be propagandistic, but this is one of the worst I've seen. Words by Drew Rohde. “Winter on Fire” is a more accessible film, with greater TV appeal, but it’s also more limited by its insistence on shoehorning everything into one perspective, albeit a … Evgeny Afineevsky. Movie Reviews TV Reviews Roundtables Podcasts 'Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom': Venice Review. The numbers say yes. Verified Purchase. If it lacks the dispassionate context of more balanced journalism, it makes up for it with a complex, contradictory emotional impact that is simultaneously demoralizing and hopeful. . Produced in part by Netflix, this film is a coproduction of Ukraine, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Soundtrack reviews: Winter On Fire. With Fanny Sage, Lotus Bech, Arina Belanova, Evgeny Chernov. Watched Jun 21, 2020. kroat’s review published on Letterboxd: -"No one can make a free person to kneel." Metacritic User Poll: Vote for the Best of 2020! Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom 2015 ★★★★★ Watched Jan 31, 2020. WINTER ON FIRE is almost a real-life, documentary representation of the major issues in HUNGER GAMES. Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom, is only on Netflix Oct. 9. Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2014. Its familiar approach tracks individual stories; most interviewees are distinctly middle class, students or artists with Western taste in clothes and a rather sheltered outlook on life, at least before the violence starts. Movie Reviews TV Reviews Roundtables Podcasts 'Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom': Venice Review. 83% Upvoted. 1. Getting swept up in the immediate excitement is entirely understandable, but ignoring the less savory elements, such as ultra-nationalist rhetoric, is problematic at best. Their numbers continue to grow with each passing day, and their central demand is that Yanukovych resign. Almost two years have past since the events depicted in the "Winter of Fire". So it was to personal for me to allow some film director to spoil those memories. A Russian-Israeli filmmaker now based in Los Angeles, Afineevsky led a large crew (dozens of cameramen are credited) that observed the revolt against Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych centered on Kiev’s Maidan Square for 93 wintry days in late 2013 and early 2014. Though the film is limited by a point of view that’s too polemically reductive, the idealistic, difficult, sometimes lethal struggles it covers are undeniably revelatory and moving. The first day, alerted by Facebook posts, about 2,000 people gather. 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