Evge (Homeward)
Nariman Aliev's Homeward is an interesting beast to discuss. Not due to any inherent unpredictability or any extremely out of this world ideas, but in fact, the film is the exact opposite to such fantastical ideas by being a predictable as a possible done-to-death premise. Despite its creative normalcy, its emotional and visual execution is hard-hitting enough, to leave even the most cynical of viewers, speechless.
These extreme surges of emotions that the viewer will feel during this experience is not an exaggeration. Every scream, shock, cry and silence presented in the feature is immersive to a point of relatability. This can be attributed to the quietest and introspective narrative, while this does possess many violent outbursts it still maintains relatively ambient to the setting, giving empathy to its characters.
Many inattentive viewers might feel that Homeward is promoting male chauvinistic behaviour — on a more attentive and closer inspection — even the most casual viewers will be able to tell that it is actively condoning it. Evident by how the film's captivating aura around its characters emphasizes the fact that beneath these toxic actions, lies humans capable of love and emotion and they can only achieve such relations of love and affection once they let go of their toxic behaviour.
This message is the heart and soul of Aliev's feature and carries it throughout with a level of consistency mixed with a profound level of technical competencies. Mainly, the acting by Akhtem Seitablaev, the cinematography by Anton Fursa and sound design by Serhiy Stepansky.
The acting by Seitablaev is the first thing that viewers will talk about when they finish the film. There is a professional nuance and emotion in his performance that never crosses the boundaries of an overbearing presence becoming a major factor of appreciation for the film. The major strength in his performance is his eye movements and body language, both of which speak towards the intensity and inner turmoil of his character and reveal every hidden aspect of the originating emotions and views that other characters feel for his character.
The cinematography by Anton Fursa is another strengthening effect of the film that leaves the audience starves awe. The way that Fursa uses his framing of the characters in relation to their surroundings and their emotions speaks of the level of planning that he has made towards these scenes. Every little capture of the light and the subsequent changes in those lighting effects is captured with a precise level of transition that the visuals presented at the end feel nothing less magnificent. The major of these achievements is the usage of a cigarette lighter to extinguish its environment into a bright and warm looking ambient. This effect is used twice in the film and it never feels pretentious to any extent, always being captured into footage with the right emotional and narrative context.
The sound design by Serhiy Stepansky is the culmination of all this brilliance into one. Quiet, introspective and emotion revelations are just the surface level positives of Stepansky's sound design. The main awe comes from how they are utilized to improve upon the brilliance of other aspects. If it's aforementioned cinematography, the sound design would make sure that it helps create an intimate experience with such beautiful visuals, which otherwise would have been nothing but some good-looking footage. In case of acting; Stepansky makes sure to provide a gradual rise, fall, and silence, in order to match the mood of the characters. Even contrasting moods are showcased with a similar level of intricacy towards its subject and sometimes without even a touch of dialogue. When the focus is on the character's expression, the audience can read the mood just by judging the environmental sounds presented to them.
Considering all these signs of brilliance, it is safe to say that Homeward is a must-watch even having the potential for becoming a future cult classic.