Perhaps the best mix of Cinematography and True Story
I must admit that the first time I saw this film, I was too immature to fully grasp its significance. As a student who hadn't even developed his ideas of the world yet, I initially saw this film as another one of those documentaries, depicting some other story that few knew about and fewer cared.
However, as my exposure to cinema and life grew, my perspectives changed as well. I saw that such a film takes much more than a cameraman with a camera to shoot. It takes inspiration and courage. Not just the courage to take part in live gunfire and risk death, but also the boldness to present it in the face of cultural and political adversary.
Similar to the critically acclaimed film like Ararat (2002), starring such greats as Charles Aznavour and Christopher Plummer, where the filming of a documentary is shown to affect a young cameraman, "Dark Forest in the Mountains" allows the spectator to be affected. However, the affect is not of feelings learned in an acting class, but of true association to the deep cultural emotions that are exemplified as the film progresses.
During these days of cultural turmoil and political unrest, this film is one that gives reason to continue to work hard and thrive, since there is indeed a morally superior goal for which to fight.
I must admit that the first time I saw this film, I was too immature to fully grasp its significance. As a student who hadn't even developed his ideas of the world yet, I initially saw this film as another one of those documentaries, depicting some other story that few knew about and fewer cared.
However, as my exposure to cinema and life grew, my perspectives changed as well. I saw that such a film takes much more than a cameraman with a camera to shoot. It takes inspiration and courage. Not just the courage to take part in live gunfire and risk death, but also the boldness to present it in the face of cultural and political adversary.
Similar to the critically acclaimed film like Ararat (2002), starring such greats as Charles Aznavour and Christopher Plummer, where the filming of a documentary is shown to affect a young cameraman, "Dark Forest in the Mountains" allows the spectator to be affected. However, the affect is not of feelings learned in an acting class, but of true association to the deep cultural emotions that are exemplified as the film progresses.
During these days of cultural turmoil and political unrest, this film is one that gives reason to continue to work hard and thrive, since there is indeed a morally superior goal for which to fight.
