Mr. Nobody Against Putin (2025)

Not rated, but this is a story that has just a lot of swearing.  That seems like it wouldn't raise any flags.  The thing is that the movie is more heartbreaking and depressing than anything visual.  But it is also one of those movies that hits differently if you aren't comfortable with war footage.  But in terms of visual things, it's just a lot of swearing.  Also, as much as I love Pavel, I'm a fan of keeping relationships with students more professional.  That's a teacher thing in me.

DIRECTORS: David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin

Okay, I've found a (mostly) kindred spirit.

The Academy Awards tend to choose similar themed documentaries every year.  As a Ukrainian, I tend to lean towards the docs involving the Ukraine / Russia conflict.  They're heartbreaking and they are hard sells for people to watch because they are mostly comprised of war footage.  But the thing that always drove me insane about Russia is that, from an American perspective, it's shocking to hear how pro-Russia the Russian people are.  Internationally, Vladimir Putin is probably one of this century's greatest villains.  And when we watch Russian propaganda from an American perspective, it's easy to see how silly it all comes across.  But what Mr. Nobody Against Putin does (which is a terrible title considering how effective the documentary is) well is let us know how propaganda works in an hour-and-a-half.

Now, the easy read on this, unfortunately, is that --if I showed this to my Trump supporting circle of people --folks would see this as "Look how immoral Russia is."  And you know what?  Russia, especially under Vladimir Putin, is a hellscape.  The propaganda is so thick that it is a miracle that people like Pasha exist.  Like, we get that rules in major cities tend to skew differently than suburbs or, in the case of Pasha, the most toxic place on earth.  When you get people so densely packed together in a city hub, the challenging of ideas is normal.  But out in the middle of nowhere, where it seems like no one cares about the residents, that message is palpable.  But I can't help but make the comparison to suburban Cincinnati.  The fact that the word "Ohio" has become synonymous with "fly-over-state", implying the very existence of the State of Ohio is boring in itself, there's a desperation for identity that propaganda does really well.  If I asked one of the people around me to take care of an immigrant who was staying at my house, they probably would be welcoming and throw a party for them.  But the second I talk about immigration as an issue, it's part and parcel of an identity that is impossible to break.

I love Pasha because I get him too much.  It's funny that he is incredibly aware of his home town of Karabash's repuation.  He knows that it is the most polluted, unlivable place on Earth.  He knows that the buildings are dirty and that, because the entire town is industrialway, there are pipes that go back and forth.  But he also is hurting because he loves his homeland so much.  Pasha is a young dude.  I don't know if he remembers a time when things weren't under Putin's thumb.  But the war with Ukraine was an escalation that went too far for him.  I mean, he was fighting the system even before the Ukraine invasion, so I really like Pasha then.  But he has the same logic that I have for America.  I get really emotionally moved by what is happening in the country now.  The assumption is that, when you protest what is happening in your country, it is done out of a lack of patriotism.  I don't think that was it.  In fact, I might have believed the same thing at one point, wondering if I was at all patriotic.  But the truth is that I'm overly patriotic.  I just hate Nationalism that much. If we're talking about doing the little things that are going to get you in trouble, Pasha understands John Lewis's attitude of "Good Trouble" quite well.

But this is all happening here.  Yeah, we're not in those final days of having to record our indoctrination courses in schools.  But there are things we cannot say out loud.  Heck, I got into a lot of trouble this week where I almost got fired for speaking out for what was actually happening in this country that aligned with Church teaching.  I don't regret what I did.  Heck, I guarantee if push-came-to-shove, I'd do it again.  But that's the attitude that Pasha has.  He's a guy who knows that teaching lies to children is wrong.  (I'm really soapboxing with this blog and I apologize.  I just like having a blog that I actually want to write a lot about.  Imagine when I have to go back and finish the Bergman set!  Yeesh!) But that first half-hour was mirroring what is going on here in spades.  It's kind of horrifying.  I think a lot of that comes from the notion that propaganda is comforting.  It's nice to think that your team is always the good guy.  (Please note:  I continually am disappointed with everyone, so I know that I don't have a team.  But I also need to keep examining that attitude so I don't actually get on a team that I don't acknowledge.)  Watching those cars wave Russian flags outside their windows without any encouragment?  That's the stuff that scares me.  I don't want to have that kind of warmongering Nationalism as a form of comfort.  Maybe that's the only way that you can justify a questionable war and still be able to sleep at night.  Knowing that people are going to die is a hard sell, so giving the war a glorious cause is the ultimate sleep aid.

I keep looking for the name of the scumbag history teacher, though.  I need an entire documentary on this guy.  From what was implied, that history teacher was a full-on plant by the Putin government.  He was there with the expressed purpose of misinforming students.  Golly, that teacher of the year award (which seems like something that the Hallmark Channel made up) is painful.  The thing is, it's weird to think that Pasha actually thought that it might have gone to him.  Yes, we are hopefully all brimming with self-awarness and have the benefit of being outside the film.  But that history teacher, as much as that whole thing was manipulated to show that the Putin government is the one that people want, is actually the one that the people want.  It's actually odd to think that, in an interview with Pasha, that he wanted to be the cool teacher.  That guy, even as a teacher completely divorced from his words, was the worst.  Like, he's just a bummer of a dude.  I actually wonder what the history teacher's relationship to Pasha was like.  After all, Pasha did stuff that would get anyone else killed.  He played "America the Beautiful" over the speakers.  He put images of the underground on the windows.  He had a democratic flag in his office.  Why did ol' history teacher agree to be interviewed by him?  And not to be the worst, that guy even looked evil.  Like, you couldn't cast a better secret police guy.  Holy moley.

I don't necessarily love Pasha's relationship with his students.  I know that there's something that is trying to be communicated in the film.  The idea is that Pasha cares for the students under his care more than your average teacher.  He created a safe space for these kids to be themselves in an environment that actively stifled any creativity or free thought.  It was aiming for that Glee relationship.  But guess what?  I also hated the relationship on Glee.  His obsession with his one student kind of sours a lot of the film.  I get that he cares for his kids, but the teacher in me needs to establish boundaries.  

Anyway, the movie is a tank.  I like this guy a lot.  I teach John Lewis's March in my classroom and I make my students understand that the term "Good Trouble" is so vital for active citizens.  Pasha's tale is the ultimate "good trouble" story for Russia.  I wish that he didn't have to leave his home, but I hope that he's out there making more trouble.