Pastor
Gennadiy Mokhnenko’s name is surely on the list of Ukrainian leaders to be rounded-up
for a Moscow show trial if the city of Mariupol ever decisively falls (which it
very nearly did). This man of the cloth is also on the enemies list of a drug
dealer known on the streets as Abrahina. In both cases, Pastor Mokhnenko has
called out those who threaten his flock and his country. That country is
Ukraine. Nobody is more aware of the nation’s systemic social pathologies or
more determined to fix them than the good cleric profiled in Steve Hoover’s
documentary, Almost Holy (a.k.a. Crocodile Gennadiy, trailer here), co-executive
produced by Terrence Malick, which opens this Friday in New York.
Pastor
Mokhnenko is a lot like Father Flanagan, but with more swagger (his nickname “Crocodile
Gennadiy” comes from a beloved Russian cartoon about a do-gooding croc). His
version of Boys’ Town is Pilgrim Republic, a rehab center and homeless shelter
for Mariupol’s shockingly young street junkies. Pastor Mokhnenko will give them
a hot meal, a warm bed, and possibly even hope, whether they want them or not. In
point of fact, Pastor Mokhnenko remains somewhat controversial for “whisking”
young addicts off the streets, even if they do not want saving.
As
you might expect, Pastor Mokhnenko does not have much time for critics who
think a pre-teen runaway is better off living rough and doing who knows what
for an opiate fix. Yes, he is pretty certain of the righteousness of Pilgrim
Republic’s cause. It comes from all the drug-ravaged kids he has buried. Yet,
even with all the suffering he has witnessed, Crocodile Gennadiy remains a
Ukrainian patriot.
The
city of Mariupol should ring with significance for viewers because it was the scene
of a pitched battle between Ukrainian defense forces and Russian-backed
separatists. Although Hoover does not try to compete with docs like Winter on Fire and Generation Maidan, he does not ignore the extreme geopolitical
developments in the third act. As a result, the film ends with more uncertainty
than closure.
