A SMALL LIFE

Ukraine, 2008, 60 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Alexander Jovna.

A Small Life is a brief Ukrainian story, a short story told by a monk about a little boy whose mother died, was taken in by a farmer, but rescued from famine by two kindly artist monks to whom he becomes an artist apprentice. However, when he finds a young girl who is ill staying in the monastery, he paints her, watches over her but catches chill and dies. There is a pathos about the story and a charm.

The film is made in a very Russian style, many of the compositions like silent films with captions, and introduction to the film with silent footage recapitulating some of the dire aspects of Ukrainian history and suffering. The film also has some glowing fantasy and dream sequences. While the film is in this Russian style, it lacks the austerity of some of the classic directors and, instead, gives a perspective from a child which has a sweetness about it that many audiences might find too cloying. However, it is a pleasant film about Ukraine and its spirit and spirituality.

1.A short story, a Ukrainian legend, Ukrainian history, art and religion? Monasteries?

2.The opening, the silent film footage, hardships in Ukrainian history, the weather and the winds, hunger, the range of people, survival? The editing and the pace?

3.The transition to the colour photography, its beauty, harshness, light and dark, the seasons? The musical score: the plaintive four-note theme and its repetition, the orchestrated music?

4.The voice-over, from the monastery, the story of Philip, the death of his mother?

5.The visual style, iconic, contemplative, slow pace, time for people to ponder, the framing – and the action almost like that of silent films with captions? The symbols?

6.Philip, the cold, his mother dying overnight, her hand on him? The farmer, watching, taking Philip to his home, his wife in the kitchen, the children upstairs watching? The farmer and his bluntness, the famine, giving Philip turnips? The little boy wanting his mother?

7.The boy in the woods, the snow, asleep, the monks finding him, taking him to the monastery, caring for him? The austerity of the monastery? Their room and studio? Meeting the abbot? The monks at work, their painting explaining the icons? The saint? Philip mixing the paints? His own attempts at painting? The monks praising him for his skill? The Holy Spirit and the dove?

8.The little girl, her illness, her father, praying in the chapel, lighting the candles? Philip and his attraction? The vision of the saint and the appeal for him to heal the little girl? The painting during the night, Philip and his going to watch the girl through the window, the cold, his own illness?

9.The memories of his mother, in the bright light, the images of the monks with his mother, the little girl, the saint?

10.Philip’s illness, the monks caring for him, his death? His burial? In the snow, the monks at the grave?

11.Later, the girl returning with her father, the monk giving the gift of the painting? Her contemplating it? The memories of Philip?