In light of the current military conflict in Ukraine, the warlike delirium of the protagonist of Tatiana Lushnikova’s debut, with which the film begins, is an all the more brutal introduction in the propaganda-and-pan-Slavism-ridden mentality of a Russian fighter. But far from aspiring to be a psychological or political analysis of this bellicose distortion of the “Russian spirit,” “Idyll” cleverly defies the expectations it creates through such an introduction. A three-year gap follows, after which the scenery changes: from a battlefield we move to a monastery and instead of a fanatic, we discover a lost, vulnerable man, and further down the line, a poetic soul who lucidly examines his own impulses, feelings, and weaknesses. The fragments of existence captured by an empathetic camera eventually portray Valera as some sort of a wise man of the rural community in which he lives, who watches the villagers’ agitation with affectionate resignation. This layered process of revelation surprises through its honesty and its lack of ideological parti pris. The filming and editing choices stem naturally from the rhythm of village life, under the routine of which we sense anxiety, helplessness, and alienation. Hate and violence don’t define Valera, they are only the extreme manifestations of feelings which pervade the entire community, from the village drunkard to the women working within the monastery; and the main virtue of the movie is that it makes us empathize completely, without prejudice or hesitation, with these people who lack perspective, but not the sensitivity needed for suffering because of it. (Liri Alienor Chapelan)