Argumenty

“Arsen Borissovitch Avakov? This is Vladimir Jirinovski from the Russian Douma. You have overstepped the yellow line. I’d like to give you some advice to avoid the worst for you and your government”… At the height of the Ukrainian crisis, Argumenty brings two European visions of diplomacy face to face: the first, Russian, transpires in a stupefying phone call from a Russian nationalist politician to Ukraine’s new interior minister, and the second, in a competitive debate in English held in the Czech Republic, opposing brilliant young orators discussing the possible intervention of foreign forces in Ukraine. on screen, a small scene filmed from afar provides a backdrop to the phone call and creates another dissonant association: on a riverbank, a man undresses and swims naked. Little by little, this triptych-like structure heats up and the budding politicians’ references to extensions of the Cold War become almost comical given the fiery turn of the phone conversation. How can the MP of a country “with no elections” describe the February 14th formation of the Ukrainian Government as a “coup d’état”? Are there several ways—public and private—to oppose Russia’s stranglehold over the region? Is there even one? And who, in history, was caught first with his pants down? Mankind is indeed highly exposed… (Charlotte Garson)