Visions du Réel 2020 - Kombinat
Visions du Réel 2020Gabriel Tejedor’s Kombinat opens with a two-and-a-half-minute-long unbroken take (expertly crafted by cinematographer Camille Cottagnoud) where the camera, slightly tilted upwards towards the sky, is driven atop a car filming the rust-hued industrial landscape of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, also known as MMK, or as the titular Kombinat. The serene images of steam-belching chimneys as well as cobwebs of pipelines together resembling a man-made forest of concrete and metal are accompanied by a beautiful choral arrangement, thus giving this place – one of the largest industrial complexes in Russia and in the world – a sense of awe and wonder, as though it was more than just a factory.
Indeed, this is the case. Director Gabriel Tejedor and cinematographer Camille Cottagnoud present this place as a supernatural creation rather than a soulless conglomeration of industrial installations. It is omnipresent and seemingly omnipotent. Its chimneys are seen in the background of the vast majority of the film’s scenes while the low-frequency rumble generated by its gargantuan steel-producing vats and conveyor lines are heard from miles away, even indoors. MMK is everywhere: on the news, on the radio and on the lips of the people of Magnitogorsk. Kombinat is a god. It feeds its people, it gives them shelter, and it dictates the rhythm of their lives. It giveth and it taketh away.
This overwhelming power MMK holds over people and the entire region of Magnitogorsk is explored in great detail as the film focuses its gaze upon three families whose everyday operations are documented on camera from the perspective of a fly on the wall. The people chosen as primary subjects by the filmmakers are not necessarily picked out at random, but rather to illustrate the breadth of experience and response to the dominant presence Kombinat is in people’s lives.
Some are happy where they are. They go to work, have hobbies, attune themselves to the melody dictated by their circumstances and strive to find a semblance of contentment in the comfort of a daily routine. Others dream of escaping Magnitogorsk. They see this place as a debilitating prison which damages their health, harms their children and – quite literally – denies them success and happiness. Meanwhile, some other people choose to live somewhere in between these two extremes by rebelling against the cultural expectation to work in the steelworks, but at the same time choosing to stay in Magnitogorsk and finding an alternative lifestyle. As the focus switches between these sets of characters and delineating their life philosophies, Tejedor’s Kombinat reveals itself as a complex mosaic of themes and tones which attempt to form a cohesive and compelling depiction of life in this part of the world.
However, what is probably the most interesting about this entire endeavour is the fact the filmmakers somehow managed to avoid pigeon-holing themselves as political activists despite ample opportunity to do so. Instead, they let the characters speak their mind and present a broad spectrum of opinion. Thus, as the viewer spends more time hanging on the subjects’ shoulders as they go to work, rehearse for their big dance recital, socialise or deal with their little personal dramas, they are inadvertently invited to listen in on their conversations. Expectedly, they talk about politics, the economy, the environment and everything else in between. They present their occasionally controversial points of view, argue with their family members, opine on the way MMK shapes their entire lives and lament their own personal circumstances. But their worldview never feels integral to the message the filmmakers would like the viewer to take home. Instead, it is a part of a much broader picture sketched over the course of the film.
Nevertheless, the viewer is still invited to have opinions of their own. It is impossible to avoid noticing the environmentalist undertone permeating the movie, or the fact Russia’s post-Soviet industrial strategy – while immensely successful – may impact negatively on its society in certain regions, which could be read as a central thematic thought behind this entire affair. This may very well be the case, but the filmmakers have made the right decision to retain a wider perspective over the issues at hand and opted to present the world as they found it instead of filtering it through a sieve of their own political agendas.
Therefore, Kombinat is not a political statement it could have been in other people’s hands, but rather a broad church of views and perspectives reflecting the sheer complexity of the human experience. It is equally a scathing commentary on the wide-ranging destruction caused by rampant industrial development, as well as an honest snapshot of the human existence with its beauty, mundanity and drama.
