Film reviews

RESILIENCE by Costanza Rossi

by Costanza Rossi

Resilience (Při zemi), the second feature-length film by writer-director-cinematographer Tomáš Elšík, is a documentary focusing on a forester (Pavel Pokorný) and an ornithologist (Klára Hlubocká) as the seasons change amidst the immense greenery of the Czech countryside. Pavel fights against deforestation, preserving rare plant species and wetlands; Klára scours the land for suspected poisoning of wild animals, with the help of her two dogs.

By entwining their stories, the film points out the violence perpetrated towards the landscape and the non-human creatures that inhabit it. Elšík doesn’t merely follow the two main characters around, but drafts two distinct narrative lines that sustain each other. The one foregrounding Pavel is more reflective, collecting his thoughts on the changes that have occurred in the Czech Republic in the last decade; Klára’s is more proactive; she even brings and camera-crew in court with her at one point, testifying against farmers that are illegally poisoning endangered species.

With its carefully-mounted visuals and soundscape, as well as several inserts with close-ups of plants and animals, Resilience could seem like a traditional documentary bringing audience attention to climate change and other environmental matters. However, in a manner which echoes Polish Nobel Prize laureate Olga Tokarczuk’s novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Klára's role takes on the aspect of detective-work; this engages viewer in a different way than to most works dealing with ecological subjects.

By following Klára as she collects evidence of the illegal actions of farmers against wild animals, explains the effects of poisoning on the body, and testifies about such matters in court, the film avoids giving a straightforward explanation of or solution to the structural violence perpetrated towards nature, as we usually expect. This way of presenting the topic is not only more engaging but also more truthful, as it reconstructs a path in the co-protagonist’s experience which may or may not yield a positive or welcome outcome. Filming events in a way that captures the daily struggle of people fighting against the structural exploitation of natural resources and wildlife, Resilience resonates with the viewer long after the credits have rolled.