Film Review - Pamfir (2023)

On the border of Romania, in the eastern Carpathian mountains sits the region of Bukovina. This is the setting of Pamfir, directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyi-Sobchuk and starring Oleksandr Yatsentiuk as Leonid.

Leonid, who is nicknamed Pamfir, has just returned home to his small village after working abroad for several years. He is determined to make an honest living for himself and his wife Olena (Solomiia Kyrylova) and his son Nazar (Stanislav Potiak). He is also hoping to reconnect with his son, who is on the brink of adulthood and who Leonid hopes will steer clear of the corruption and crime that runs deep in the village.

Unfortunately, Leonid’s return to the village and transition to family life is not as smooth as he would have hoped. When Nazar sets fire to the local church, Leonid wants desperately to do the right thing and so he offers to pay for all the repairs. With that promise made, Leonid has no choice but to take up a profession that he had hoped to leave behind and he resumes his duties as a smuggler. Along with his brother, he smuggles items through the forest to Romania. Rather unluckily for Leonid, this encroaches on the territory of corrupt forestry commissioner Oreste (Petro Chychuk) and events soon take a dark turn.

There is a strange juxtaposition between the stark beauty of the village nestled within a dense, verdant forest and the ugliness of the corruption that lies within. Pamfir is visually striking throughout with a particular finesse for long shots and yet the film is never attractive in the literal sense. Leonid trudges through thick mud every day and the homes are sparse. It is clear that life is not easy and that the villagers are suffering.

Likewise, all of Leonid’s relationships have a sense of beauty and ugliness to them. Leonid makes ionate love to his wife, he loves her dearly and yet he keeps many secrets from her. He protects his son fiercely and yet he has missed so much of his life. He is extremely close to his beloved mother and yet he does not speak to his father who he blinded in one eye after a fight.

Pamfir is also thematically rich. The film looks at the difference between those with power and those without. It looks at those who have so few options available to them and what lengths they might have to go to. It looks at redemption, regret and how we might be doomed to repeat our mistakes. Most of all, Pamfir explores the sins of the father and whether it is inevitable that those sins will be ed from generation to generation. Is hope possible? Do we even deserve it?

A quietly fierce film with excellent performances, Pamfir is well worth seeking out.