A simple documentary even if the subject matter is anything but. The Earth Is Blue As An Orange follows Hanna and her four children, a family full of cinephiles living in Ukraine. The films they watch along with the art that each of them make serve as a safe haven from the war going on outside. The question being asked is thus: “Can art thrive in wartime and how is art made in wartime?” The answer is simple. As long as life continues during times of great turmoil, art will continue as well, since art is the expression of life. As the eldest two children make their own film inspired by their experiences with wartime, director Iryna Tsilyk mirrors this with the documentary itself, taking still moments of life that the family has and inserting them amidst the creation of art. Expressions of art outnumber the outright references to the war going on, really helping the film and filmmaking in general as a more light mode of expression of the grief and pain that one goes through. The lack of reminders of wartime only make the subject matter of the film the elder children are making even more heart-wrenching, especially as they reach the final stages and eventually the screening of their work.
A simple documentary even if the subject matter is anything but. The Earth Is Blue As An Orange follows Hanna and her four children, a family full of cinephiles living in Ukraine. The films they watch along with the art that each of them make serve as a safe haven from the war going on outside. The question being asked is thus: “Can art thrive in wartime and how is art made in wartime?” The answer is simple. As long as life continues during times of great turmoil, art will continue as well, since art is the expression of life. As the eldest two children make their own film inspired by their experiences with wartime, director Iryna Tsilyk mirrors this with the documentary itself, taking still moments of life that the family has and inserting them amidst the creation of art. Expressions of art outnumber the outright references to the war going on, really helping the film and filmmaking in general as a more light mode of expression of the grief and pain that one goes through. The lack of reminders of wartime only make the subject matter of the film the elder children are making even more heart-wrenching, especially as they reach the final stages and eventually the screening of their work.
