Film: Pipeline / Truba (2013)
Transfer: n/a Extras: n/a
Label: n/a
Region: n/a
Released: n/a
Genre: Documentary / Hot Docs 2014
Synopsis: The epic length of Russia’s Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipleline is traced through a series of candid and sometimes amusing vignettes of locals, from the chilly winter of Siberia to Koln, Germany.
Special Features: n/a
Review:
Home to the world’s largest natural gas reserve, Siberia’s Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline stretches 4500 kilometers from Russia’s northern region through Europe, providing energy for cooking and heating in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, and France. Instead of a documentary on this colossal engineering feat, director Vitaly Manskiy focuses on the people in small towns and cities adjacent to the pipeline, often placing his camera in staid positions to capture the lifestyles of various cultures as the pipeline snakes southward to warmer and more industrialized locales.
What emerges in this roughly 2 hour portrait is an often humorous collage of quirky human behaviour, with the occasional political critique emerging from either interview subjects or raucous conversations. Reindeer herders, itinerant priests, untalented musicians, cantankerous pensioners, crane operators, gas delivery men, and festive sausage-loving Germans pack the narrative, and Alexandra Ivanova’s beautiful cinematography flows from snowy Doctor Zhivago villages to grim industrial towns and urban Koln, Germany.
© 2014 Mark R. Hasan
External References:
IMDB — Hot Docs 2014 Listing
Vendor Search Links:
Amazon.ca — Amazon.com — Amazon.co.uk
Category: Blu-ray / DVD Film Review
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