Academy Award winning director, Michel Hazanavicius, directs a beautiful film about four interconnected stories that face the tragedies of the Chechnya War. I honestly was not even aware of what this war entailed until I saw this film. Hazanavicius previously directed the Oscar winning film The Artist (2011) and thus takes a very dramatic turn with his newest feature. The Search is not lighthearted at all like his previous films. It is rooted in darkness and horror. The film opens up to a soldier filming a family being slaughtered as a form of entertainment. The entire mood becomes dark, and that effect is not due to the grayish tint that happens to be present throughout the film.
The darkness is due to the realities of war and the effects it has on everyone from young men thrown into mandatory military service to children left as orphans. The plot follows Hadji, a young lad who witnesses his family's murder by the soldiers at the beginning of the film. Hadji flees his home in search of someplace safer and is reluctant to be picked up by refugees and taken to an orphanage. He does not know however that his teenage sister, Raissa, managed to survive. She begins to search for Hadji, whom she believes is still alive.
The plot thickens as we now move on to see a young Russian teen, Kolia, recruited for military duty. This becomes the most disturbing part of the film. As we see Hadji's life slowly improving after befriending a human rights worker, the film follows the slow deterioration of a young man's morals by the facets of war. Kolia transforms from a normal teenage boy into a ruthless killing machine that embodies no hope of redemption. He learns to kill innocence and leave what's left of his childhood behind.
This transition in the film offers an interesting perspective. The audience goes from watching the horrors caused by war to sympathizing with a Russian soldier who becomes responsible for more destruction in the future. As one innocent life begins to improve, another innocent life begins to decline. Kolia never wanted to join the Russian military shown by his suicide attempts and frequent moments of hysteria. Hadji obviously didn't want his parents murdered. Therefore, both stories offer two dramatically different sides of war traumas. While Hadji's future remains hopeful however, Kolia's spirals downhill into a black box of despair. It's interesting to see that the people responsible for warfare have the most tragic endings. The point is, no matter which side you're on, war offers no benefits to the players directly involved. It transforms and configures humanity into a world nobody would want to live in. Children are forced to mature way beyond their years, and families are torn apart.
With the help of the human rights worker, Carole, Hadji's situation goes from horrible to optimistic. Berenice Bejo plays Carole. Once again working with Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar nominated actress delivers another masterful performance. She provides a light at the end of the tunnel effect. Carole houses young Hadji after seeing him wandering the streets alone and without any provisions. The human rights worker establishes a connection with Hadji after several unsuccessful tries due to Hadji's complete silence. He's experienced traumatic events that would obviously leave someone shell shocked and saddened.
It is Berenice Bejo who steals the show. With her persistent attitude in trying to raise support and awareness for the innocent victims of the Chechnya War, she ignites a burning passion to help especially after hearing other victims' stories. The best scene showing this determination and relentless attitude is when Carole is on the phone with a European Union correspondent. She has been trying to arrange a meeting to inform people of the issues she witnesses every day. Her speech, backed with a mixed range of power, frustration, and genuine care, not only gets her a meeting but also leaves the audience wanting to help the situation too.
Although family is destroyed in this film, it offers a positive alternative. Carole wants to adopt Hadji, but we know that Raissa is still alive and searching for him. This puts us in a perplexing spot because we want both Carole and Raissa to achieve what they have been searching for all along. Carole searches for inspiration and meaning to her work and life finding that in Hadji, while Raissa searches for what's left of her family.
The Search offers multiple perspectives at the negative effects of war. The soldier, innocent child, and maturing teenager face direct effects while the orphanage head, EU correspondent, and human rights worker face indirect effects. The complexity of each situation is made so easy to watch and understand. Michel Hazanavicius is a great director, and I will always continue to search for his future films.
The darkness is due to the realities of war and the effects it has on everyone from young men thrown into mandatory military service to children left as orphans. The plot follows Hadji, a young lad who witnesses his family's murder by the soldiers at the beginning of the film. Hadji flees his home in search of someplace safer and is reluctant to be picked up by refugees and taken to an orphanage. He does not know however that his teenage sister, Raissa, managed to survive. She begins to search for Hadji, whom she believes is still alive.
The plot thickens as we now move on to see a young Russian teen, Kolia, recruited for military duty. This becomes the most disturbing part of the film. As we see Hadji's life slowly improving after befriending a human rights worker, the film follows the slow deterioration of a young man's morals by the facets of war. Kolia transforms from a normal teenage boy into a ruthless killing machine that embodies no hope of redemption. He learns to kill innocence and leave what's left of his childhood behind.
This transition in the film offers an interesting perspective. The audience goes from watching the horrors caused by war to sympathizing with a Russian soldier who becomes responsible for more destruction in the future. As one innocent life begins to improve, another innocent life begins to decline. Kolia never wanted to join the Russian military shown by his suicide attempts and frequent moments of hysteria. Hadji obviously didn't want his parents murdered. Therefore, both stories offer two dramatically different sides of war traumas. While Hadji's future remains hopeful however, Kolia's spirals downhill into a black box of despair. It's interesting to see that the people responsible for warfare have the most tragic endings. The point is, no matter which side you're on, war offers no benefits to the players directly involved. It transforms and configures humanity into a world nobody would want to live in. Children are forced to mature way beyond their years, and families are torn apart.
With the help of the human rights worker, Carole, Hadji's situation goes from horrible to optimistic. Berenice Bejo plays Carole. Once again working with Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar nominated actress delivers another masterful performance. She provides a light at the end of the tunnel effect. Carole houses young Hadji after seeing him wandering the streets alone and without any provisions. The human rights worker establishes a connection with Hadji after several unsuccessful tries due to Hadji's complete silence. He's experienced traumatic events that would obviously leave someone shell shocked and saddened.
It is Berenice Bejo who steals the show. With her persistent attitude in trying to raise support and awareness for the innocent victims of the Chechnya War, she ignites a burning passion to help especially after hearing other victims' stories. The best scene showing this determination and relentless attitude is when Carole is on the phone with a European Union correspondent. She has been trying to arrange a meeting to inform people of the issues she witnesses every day. Her speech, backed with a mixed range of power, frustration, and genuine care, not only gets her a meeting but also leaves the audience wanting to help the situation too.
Although family is destroyed in this film, it offers a positive alternative. Carole wants to adopt Hadji, but we know that Raissa is still alive and searching for him. This puts us in a perplexing spot because we want both Carole and Raissa to achieve what they have been searching for all along. Carole searches for inspiration and meaning to her work and life finding that in Hadji, while Raissa searches for what's left of her family.
The Search offers multiple perspectives at the negative effects of war. The soldier, innocent child, and maturing teenager face direct effects while the orphanage head, EU correspondent, and human rights worker face indirect effects. The complexity of each situation is made so easy to watch and understand. Michel Hazanavicius is a great director, and I will always continue to search for his future films.