A fascinating delve into the life of Vitaly Panasyuk, a resolutely intense (and desperately idiosyncratic) supporter of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Happiness to All (Štěstí a dobro všem) offers a non-judgmental look at Russian life on the fringes, where memories of the ideals of the USSR are still entrenched, and where the West is still blamed for many issues facing modern-day Russia.
A well-educated man who is (apparently) a nuclear physicist and record holder in extreme cold-exposure training (the film opens with him swimming in freezing waters), Vitaly makes his living as a bricklayer and builder and lives below the poverty line, though he also spends plenty of time making (and uploading) videos of his life, thoughts and extreme fitness regimes.
Living in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk – and swimming in the freezing Ob River which bisects the city – he is used to a tough and often bleak life, but according to his video diary titled ‘Freedom’ (21 views) he thinks “Russia is the freest country on the planet,” but adds that in the old USSR “his useful ideas would have been celebrated”.
Czech director Filip Remunda shot his film between 2016 and 2024, tracing a changing Russia and following Vitaly’s political awakening as he grows from genial lover of all things Russian to an increasingly belligerent and potentially violent radical Putin supporter keen to provoke anyone he sees as “liberal.” The film astutely sees him eating with and talking to his elderly parents, once prominent scientists who reminisce about the glory of the Soviet regime they willingly built.
His father comments about the younger generation that “these days all they do is collect ‘likes’,” he says, while nodding towards his son, adding that all he wants is for him to get a regular job. At a later point in the film his mother talks about another son they had, who died after an overdose. She blames the US, adding: ”I hate Europe, hate the US, hate Russian liberals.”
For his parents, the certainties and advantages of the old regime linger on, and while Vitaly may reject the capitalist nature of modern Russia at the start of the film he is still a great patriot. As the film draws on, he more resolutely rejects past and present political representation and starts resorting to extreme views.
The start of the film sees hi, and his mother cheerfully swimming in ice holes he has cut in the river, and there are celebrations as he marries Olga, a psychiatrist from Barnaul. His mother is especially happy (pointing out he never dated before), but later disappointed that Olga still lives in Barnaul, adding that they are living a “long-distance marriage”.
This time-lapse character study offers particular insight when it features some of his online video diaries, such as ‘The Moon Creeps Out’ (199 views), ‘Rainstorm Over My Hood’ (51 views) and ‘Storm Over Siberia’ (14 views) – but his limited audience starts to dip as he journeys towards more intense political views. He gets involved with the SERB Russian Liberation Movement, a radical pro-Kremlin organisation, and is paid to come to Moscow to swim across the icy Moskva River carrying a Russian flag in support of Putin, and then join a small gang wandering the city who brutally confront those they see as liberals. He seems to get involved in Fight Clubs and towards the end the film is shown with black eyes and heavy facial bruising.
The skill of Remunda’s film is that it offers a glimpse into a little seen part of modern-day Russia, and shows how long-term frustration and disillusionment leads entire generations and social classes to gravitate towards their own radical solutions. For Vitaly, Putin is the strong-man intent on establishing a just regime that harks back to greater days, while for his parents the new Russia has lost the socialist aims of their beloved USSR. Both generations are angry and frustrated.
Much of the film is classic fly-on-the-wall documentary making, though the film is astutely punctuated with footage shot by Vitaly himself as he works on his stoical tough-man routine of shadow-boxing, swimming in the freezing water and filming himself at political events. Physically he also seems to change over the period of filming as facial twitches and shakes accompany the increasingly dark edge to his personality.
Czech Republic-Netherlands-France, 2024, 96mins
Dir/scr: Filip Remunda
Production: Hypermarket, Volta Films, Mandra Films
Producers: Tereza Horská, Denis Vaslin, Fleur Knopperts, Vlad Ketkovic
Cinematography: Jakub Halousek
Editor: Tanya Vikhreva
Music: Minco Eggersman
