Rock Paper Grenade

Rock, Paper, Grenade has the feel of an encounter with an old friend after a long time. He will tell you a lot of stories but not long afterwards, you will just remember fragments.

Based on the autobiographical novel Who Are You? by her husband Artem Chekh director Iryna Tsilyk’s coming-of-age drama tells the story of the unusual friendship between a boy, Tymophiy (played first by Andriy Cherednyk, then Vladislav Baliuk and finally by Volodymyr Gladky) and his grandmother’s strange lover Felix (Yuriy Izdryk). The director leads us through Tymophiy´s life from his childhood until adulthood by way of episodes of varying significance, including everything from buying new modern trainers and having a first girlfriend.

These reminiscences are combined with sequences involving Felix. The longer we watch, the more questions and fewer answers about him we have. While Tymophiy’s story and the changes to his character are shown via a comedic perspective, Felix stays the same. He is introduced as an Afghan veteran with PTSD and alcohol problems. But when he in the end disappears, we do not know much more about him, except the situations when his mostly toxic actions have an impact on Tymophiy’s life, such as poisoning the family atmosphere with endless conflicts.

One element that does create a strong connection between Tymophiy and Felix is music. Both are connected with a specific type of music which changes based on their personalities. In Felix's case, it is the spectacular Ravel’s Bolero in the opening scene, and which the film will loop back to, while Tymophiy’s music mirrors the mood of his life stage. Also, together they share a passion for playing piano. We can see both of them playing - Tymophiy in the beginning and Felix in the end. Through this, the music creates new spaces just for them and through which we can better feel their connection.

The spaces Timophiy occupies, in general, are one of the main elements that highlights his point of view in the storytelling. All crises and conflicts within the family are happening in their flat, mostly behind the door, so all we know from the situation is just the sounds that are making the situation more disagreeable. In contrast, the outside space of the flat represents freedom and endless possibilities which is also supported by the Hawaii theme wallpaper in the living room. The world outside is a place with friends, new adventures and, most importantly, a place without family conflicts.

Even in the end we, like Timophiy, still don’t know who exactly the old mysterious guy who appeared in our lives was - but we will still have the last tones of Nineties music playing in our heads, maybe thinking about our own childhoods and all the mysterious people who we met and how they may have influenced who we are today.