Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World
Cultural documentaries are almost as popular as the festivals that showcase them. Once a business establishment has endured for some time, especially in a city as chaotic as New York, a film will be made about it by someone, somewhere. In a way it is quite a simple plot what has lasted decades must contain some good stories. But every so often, these type of films take an interesting turn and I must say this is one of those occasions. When it came to depicting the history of the Ukrainian restaurant Veselka, a local favorite who has outlasted many city officials (Erik Adams and Kathy Hochul appear in this one) but is now in the midst of another crisis, it was quite obvious such a time had come.
Filming for the tenderness heavy Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World was interrupted by the War in Ukraine, changing the storyline completely and adding an emotional depth to it. Much like a title that seems to be unnecessarily long, the people behind this film do have a penchant for in your face storytelling and at times it may have been a better film if it didn’t have this clunky and direct style.
Overall such a documentary is unfortunately still potent, a piece of work that recognizes a diner won’t bring about salvation, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important.
To begin with, “Veselka” gives off the impression of being a simple treatise of the history and background of this well-known establishment since it is quite rich in content details in terms of the legacy underlying the East Village fixture. Very much like this when such directorial vision as Michael Fiore’s can be cutting about marketing the city as a tourist location. Let’s put it this way. I don’t care if it is 100 Miles away, I would have dinner at Veselka today if it was less than that. It just seems like an utterly appealing, comforting, and welcoming place to be in and it will not only tempt you with its pierogis. (Borscht may be a harder point to promote.)
Fiore’s point of departure is Jason Birchard, the grandson of the owner and in brings out the history of Ukraine that has been one of the strongest ties to the establishment. Then, the war starts. Fiore effectively conveys the idea of the physical and emotional integration of distant wars into the everyday lives of civilians a notion that does not take place in the imagination of isolation, and is often crudely shattering. One of the chefs mentions people close to him who died during the initial phase of the conflict. Nonetheless, he gets out and goes to his place of employment. The concept of war constricts hundreds of millions of people around the globe who are traumatized with no opportunity for management of their trauma, or even of such considerations.
This can be seen in the latter part of the film which is devoted to Vitalii. He works as a manager at Veselka and is working towards his mother’s relocation from Ukraine to Poland and also engaging in outreach activities in the process. The directors of the documentary film, however, also show that such activities, while praiseworthy have a temporary nature. They provide a pleasant feeling when completed and serve to make important issues known, but they do not help get Vitalii’s mom from Ukraine. A charity baseball game is fun, but it does not address the terror and the dislocation.
One of the most sensible quotes found within the whole documentary film is: “In this story, there are more questions than answers”. The film works because it allows for these questions, never overplaying Veselka as a solution or a cure. I was struck with how infrequently the film gives in to the overblown emotion that would otherwise defeat more mediocre efforts. There is never the impression that the filmmakers are trying to force the tears out of their characters or their audience, and indeed both will.
That being said, the disappointed voice of David Duchovny is a tragedy on the whole. To have an opportunity to hear the voice of Fox Mulder is an absolute delight for this construing “X-Files” fan and while he does show sensitivity in the way he approaches the story it, however, is never called for. He is devoid of the ability of offering the emotion that has already been conveyed across the screen. No. We do not need to hear it. We can see it in Vitalii’s gaze as it is.
For the past few weeks, “Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World” has been on tour across the country and now is being launched at Hot Docs. Do see it as you will have VOD for the it almost certainly.
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