"War is like an X-ray. All humans' inside become visible. Good people become better. Bad people, worse."
— Mstyslav Chernov
20 Days in Mariupol (Ukrainian: 20 днів у Маріуполі, romanized: Dvadtsyat dniv u Mariupoli) is a 2023 Ukrainian documentary film directed and written by journalist Mstyslav Chernov.
The film chronicles the twenty days Chernov spent with his colleagues in the besieged city of Mariupol in Eastern Ukraine, after Russia began its large scale invasion of the country on February 24, 2022, documenting the events as the city started getting completely surrounded and shelled by Russian forces. Chernov compiled footage he collected in Mariupol together with the team from PBS' Frontline (in which it was broadcast on US television) and the Associated Press.
Tropes:
- Blatant Lies:
- Towards the beginning, there's a part of an interview of Vladimir Putin about his "Special Military Operation" as he calls it. He says "We are not planning to occupy Ukrainian territories. We are not going to impose anything on anyone by force".
- Civilians being told on several instances that "Russians don't shoot at civilians", which is quickly proven false.
- The second person to be interviewed in Mariupol speaks of how dumbfounded he was after seeing an interview of Putin in which the Russian president basically said he's attacking Ukraine "because otherwise Ukraine will attack Russia first".
- Russian media treating war footage and photos from Mariupol seen in Western media (including those by Chernov) as "staged".
- Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and Permanent Representative at the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya denying that war crimes happened.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": Russian tanks are marked with the letter "Z", which has become the symbol of the Russian invaders.
- Checkpoint Bluff: When Chernov, his team and the family helping them eventually escape Mariupol in a car to reach a Red Cross convoy, they have to go through 15 Russian checkpoints. They hide the cameras and flash drives with the crucial footage they took in the city under the car's seats.
- Death from Above:
- The first time Chernov hears the sound of a fighter jet, he and the Ukrainian soldiers he films run for cover.
- Russian shelling and air attacks causing deaths and extensive destruction in Mariupol.
- Death of a Child: The bodies of several dead children as a result of the shellings are seen, from babies to a sixteen year old. There's also a child who died in his mother's womb when she died of her wounds.
- Drone of Dread:
- A few ominous violin drones are heard on the soundtrack towards the end as Russian military presence increases in the city, such as when Russian tanks shooting at residential buildings are caught on camera, as well as in the Day 16 opening.
- The final footage of the desolated city in ruins and cemeteries with countless graves with just numbers instead of names as well as the end credits have another droning soundtrack.
- Empathy Doll Shot: A little child's empty winter jacket in a tree at one point, immediately followed by a child's photobook lying amidst rubble.
- How We Got Here: As an introduction, the film starts on Day 16 with Chernov inside the maternity hospital as Russian tanks start rolling in the streets of Mariupol. Then there's a cut to Day 1.
- Maternity Crisis: Chernov spends some time in a maternity hospital, where childbirths happen while the city is shelled and Russian tanks start rolling in the streets and shooting at buildings.
- Meanwhile Scene: Towards the beginning, there's a montage of news footage from other places in Ukraine where the Russian invasion occurs and a speech by president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Chernov talks about checking the news when he's inside an improvised bomb shelter.
- Nothing Is Scarier: The film opens on a rainy day in pre-invasion Mariupol, with footage driving down a road that could be just about anywhere. It's not long before it sets in exact what's about to happen. Lampshaded in Chernov's narration:Mstyslav Chernov: Someone once told me, "Wars do not start with explosions. They start with silence."
- Oh, Crap!: From a window of the maternity hospital, Chernov and the Ukrainian soldiers around him observe a Russian tank, the gun of which suddenly pivots in their direction, which prompts them to run deeper in the hospital.
- The Siege: Mariupol was completely cut off and surrounded by Russian troops, who shelled and bombarded the city when closing in.
- Skewed Priorities: A young man is seen looting a gaming chair in a shop during the siege. Someone then asks him how useful that is given the situation.
- Trapped Behind Enemy Lines:
- The whole city gets cut off from the rest of Ukrainian forces once Russian troops coming from the puppet republics of Donbas and those coming from Crimea make their junction and surround it, becoming a giant trap for the inhabitants.
- Chernov and his team had to go through 15 Russian checkpoints in occupied territory until they could join a Red Cross convoy that would lead them safely to Ukrainian-held territories.
- Turn Off the Camera: The squad of Ukrainian soldiers followed by Chernov at one point don't want to be filmed and he has to point out to them that this "historical war" has to be documented. The camera is down when he talks to them.
- Urban Ruins: There's aerial drone footage of Mariupol (from other sources than Chernov) showing the extent of the damage on the city after 86 days of war, that is, nothing but ruins and damaged, greyed or blackened buildings without windows left.
- Urban Warfare: The documentary features the early stages of the fierce battle of Mariupol that would last 86 days. Russian tanks are seen shooting at residential areas, the city is shelled and bombarded by aviation and Ukrainian troops are deployed in the city waiting for the invaders.
- War Is Hell: Mariupol's increasing isolation, electricity and Internet getting cut off, people starting to loot shops, people dying from shellings by cluster ammunitions, hospitals being overloaded with wounded people, tanks shooting at residential buildings, the city getting reduced to ruins, desperate people wondering why this is all happening, the mass graves etc.
- You Are Number 6: At the end, the many graves of victims of the siege have only numbers instead of names.
