Breaking Point (Mark Jonathan and Oles Sanin 2016)USA/Ukraine

Reviewed by Martha Castaneda at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2017

Kive, Ukraine

War has no Boundaries.  This is a emotional documentary about the Russian invasion in Ukraine. The power of the Russian troops stemmed from their lies and deceit. This documentary made it clear what the Russian prerogative was; to forcefully fight and overcome the citizens of Ukraine to steal their land. A land that held strategical importance for Russia and there position in Europe. The Russian invasion was exercised with strong military tactics and precise planning.

I visited Ukraine seven years ago and found this country lovely and peaceful. The citizens of Ukraine are proud of their heritage and of their country. This is a heart breaking story. Watching this film was extremely disturbing and enlightening.

The sound track and the photography excellently captured the battles and the travesties endured by the Ukrainian people. You can feel and see the pain endured by the Ukrainians. You witness the killing of innocence people by professional Russian soldiers and how at times one-sided it was due to their military training. The Ukrainians needed to unite and form a line of defense to have any chance against the Russian military. They started planning, organizing and training their men and women to fight back and save their country from being overtaken. “Breaking Point” is a disturbingly true-to-life documentary whose footage is outstanding. The Ukrainians were ready to fight, and fight they did. They were able to protect their countries boarders. However, losing Crimea to Russia was terrible loss to to Ukrainians.

Crimea is on the Black Sea coastline, a critical location for a navel base. Conquering Crimea was Russia’s primary goal and important in their overall military strategy. Sevastopol a town in Crimea had a naval shipyard fully equipped with battleship and submarines, thus making the port extremely important to both countries. I count my blessings that I able to visit Crimea before the invasion. I found this city beautiful and bountiful. The film covered this horrific invasion with honesty and made me feel as if I were truly there. Although on the other side of the world, “Breaking Point” makes you really empathize with the Ukrainian people and is therefore a must see!

Sevastopol, Crimea