Emma Sanatorium Film Review – Life, Laughter and Resilience in Ukraine
Set inside the faded grandeur of the Kuyalnik health resort near Odesa in Ukraine, the film feels a little like stepping into a living time capsule. It’s the kind of place we would travel to and after watching the film, we think you would as well.
Everyday life is captured here from the elderly men strolling around in tiny swimwear to ping pong competitions and the set up for the disco.
Inside the Kuyalnik Sanatorium
The sprawling Kuyalnik sanatorium was once three towers filled with thousands of residents seeking to improve their health. Now, there is only one building in use with the numbers arriving dwindling as time, and the war, passes by.
The brutalist architecture hints at time when this was a destination, now the corridors are worn arojnd the edges with flaking paint, water leaks and a sense of a place time forgot.
Click here to read about the Ukrainian Motherland Monument
The treatments hark back to times when wellness was medicinal instead of the slick Spa culture of today. Mud baths and electro-massage machines in white tiled rooms.
The Guests and Their Stories
Apart from the architecture, the stories of the visitors pull you in. A mother and son visit as she tries to get him a wife.
Another guest is here to recover from the loss of her husband on the frontline. A young soldier recovers from injuries sustained in the war and another guest hopes the treatments might help her start a family. Everyday struggles against the backdrop of the war.
A visit to Pripyat and Chernobyl
Verdict
Despite everything, people still dance, socialise and take their treatment. Sanatorium is quietly funny, touching and a powerful portrait of resilience.
Watch Sanatorium on BBC iPlayer.
