Credits

Regie

Mykhailo Illienko

Genre

Historical, Romance

Speelduur

86 minutes

Land

Ukraine

Taal

Ukrainian

Ondertiteling

English

Storyline

Fuchzhou as seen by Ukrainian critic Serhii Ksaverov:

As the debut feature of Mykhailo Illenko, the son of the prominent Ukrainian poetic cinema director and cinematographer Yurii Illenko, Fuchzhou naturally inherits the boldness and vividness of his father’s works, along with the connection to rustic Ukrainian culture. In some ways, the film can be seen as a sequel to another cornerstone of poetic cinema – Stone Cross. Like Stone Cross, Fuchzhou centers on emigration from Ukraine, drawing attention to similar themes that frame this act as both a physical and social death. However, it also serves as an anti-sequel, transforming the grey, grim nature of the original into farcical kitsch and turning the straightforward tale of death into a fable about weird afterlife.

Waiting for Cargo in the Roadstead of Fuchzhou Near a Pagoda, or simply Fuchzhou, was not conceived, filmed, or released like most films. It came to life like a Frankenstein monster, created during a time when the country’s cinema was torn between competing paradigms—Ukrainian, Soviet, and Western—both stylistically and thematically. By stitching together radically different elements, Fuchzhou audaciously captures the changing times like no other film of its era, addressing one of Ukraine’s most enduring tragic phenomena with bittersweet irony