“Myth” is a documentary about the life of Vasyl (Wassyl) Slipak, a world-renowned Ukrainian opera singer who gave up his successful career in the Paris Opera to fight for Ukraine against Russia. He was killed in action in June 2016.
The 60-minute movie depicts Slipak’s transformation: before and after taking part in the war against Russia in the Donbas.
What did Vasyl Slipak die for? That’s the question the film is trying to answer.
“Myth” premiered in February 2018, but only in 2019 did it become available online with English subtitles and for free.
The movie was created by directors Leonid Kanter and Ivan Yasniy, who appreciated Slipak’s sacrifice so much that they came up with the idea for the film ten days after his death. Two weeks later, they were already studying the bunker where Slipak had lived with other soldiers during the war.
They worked on the film for 17 months. Just gathering archival videos took the directors six months, even though the majority of them were provided by Vasyl’s brother Ostap, who also agreed to narrate the story.
As one of the closest people in Vasyl’s life, Ostap retold everything he remembered about his brother’s childhood and later life — up until he was killed in the Donbas at the age of 41.
“He started speaking late, but once he did, he sang straightaway,” Ostap says in the film.
Despite Slipak’s recent death, the film isn’t fraught with mourning. In some moments, it even features comedy: the directors included “Gelsomino in the Land of Liars,” a little fairy tale about a boy with a powerful voice, in the documentary’s narrative.
Apart from his brother, the directors interviewed Slipak’s colleagues, friends, fellow soldiers and his ex-girlfriend Liza, who recalled funny stories about the heroic singer.
One can’t help smiling when listening to how Slipak — posthumously awarded the Hero of Ukraine medal — played soccer in the chapel before his musical performance, or how he sang on his balcony in Paris in the morning, finishing his performance by throwing open his bathrobe.
All these stories are accompanied by video clips of his performances. In many episodes, the heroes of the film admire Slipak’s talent and his countertenor and bass-baritone voice. Thanks to it, he was invited to work as a soloist at the Paris Opera.
The film can be divided into two parts: Slipak’s life before and after the war.
In the first part, Slipak is shown at his prime: a successful person with a girlfriend, loyal friends and a top job at the Paris Opera. At the time, Slipak performed before packed audiences around the world.
Despite his achievements abroad, however, he hadn’t forgotten his motherland. And when the EuroMaidan Revolution broke out, it changed Slipak.
“He became a completely different person. All the flags, ribbons of Ukrainian colors, this was already an unhealthy atmosphere… And then he said that Ukraine to him was more important than our relationship,” his Russian ex-girlfriend Liza says.
He couldn’t stay in peaceful France while Ukraine was struggling with a bloody revolution and then a war against Russia.
On the archival videos, it seems that Slipak had barely changed when he moved back to Ukraine, but his closest friends claim the opposite. Some of his friends, however, didn’t support his decision to go to war.
The film juxtaposes different opinions about Slipak and his decision to leave the Paris Opera and to fight for Ukraine’s Donbas. The way the film depicts these polarized opinions creates tension that makes it easy to watch “Myth” in one sitting.
“Myth” is available on Megogo.net, a Ukrainian streaming platform, with English subtitles.
