Paradise.Death.Mars
‘Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn’ as quoted by English poet and one of the most important poets of the eighteenth century Thomas Gray and I simply can’t help but compare his quote to the traits of our featured filmmaker Valentyn Korotkevych as I watch his cryptic yet brilliantly soul haunting short film “Paradise. Death. Mars.”
I have always loved poetry, may it be reading it in scripts, hearing it in songs or expressing it in open-mics I like the emotions that it channels with words. The power of its author’s mind to interact with the feelings and thoughts of its audience with every word curated in a whole piece. That is one of the main reasons why director Valentyn Korotkevych got me impressed with his work. He took me to a higher level of experiencing his poetry by capturing every prose into a compelling and spine-chilling short film.
“Paradise. Death. Mars.” immediately captured me, held me captive throughout the eight-minute it run. The words spoken were profound from the core and can speak from soul to soul. I’d like to quote a couple of lines from his poetry; this is one of the parts that struck me the most: “Am I that too. A blind fool who claims to be a saint. Is that what’s happening to us? Pretending to be Gods but were really garbage of existence. How can we fix it? Can we? Is it too late, too late to say that we are wrong, that we deserve a better future.”
I felt the gravity of emotion of this part of his poem. He made me picture an ill-natured reality we are too blinded to see, a truth we often neglect, and a path we are too proud to take. The depth and command of his words have an enigma that would make me want to dwell more on his craft in writing and filmmaking.
The depiction made by director Valentyn Korotkevych completed the extraordinary experience of the piece. He was able to exceed my expectation when it comes to channeling the emotional gravity of every line and filling the scene with its energy. Aside from that, he single-handedly did the writing, acting, and directing of this short film. He delivered an effective performance, and to be honest, I bet no one could ever have done it better than he did. Every scene was a piece of evidence that his heart beats with every word, and his blood runs in every line. In addition, I also like the cinematic quality of this film. It was enigmatic. It felt like being in a gloomy episode of a dream that it feels alright to be lost because the cinematography is strikingly good.
It was a memorable experience of having the opportunity to review this short film. Anyone like me who is poetically charged will undoubtedly understand and appreciate the passion and the effort that the promising and talented Valentyn Korotkevych put into this masterpiece. He is the true epitome of putting his thoughts into words, then to vision, ultimately to action to produce a craft essentially beautiful in the core and concept.
