This is a portrait of Uļjana Semjonova who was pulled off the farm where she lived because of her height and sent to play basketball. She doesn't want to play basketball but has to decide what to do because back home she stood out because of her height, while at the sports academy she can actually do something.
This is a black and white art house sports film. Its a film full of rich images and silences and deep meanings. It's also sports film where there isn't remotely as much sports as you get in similar films. This is a film that is very much about Ulya's internal journey from being a young girl on the farm to becoming one of the best that ever played the game.
I've been sitting on this review for couple of weeks now and I don't know what I think of the film. I mean that in good ways and bad ways. Its a beautiful film that is full of images that delight the eye and ideas that tickle the mind. At the same time there is something very art house about the film. It doesn't want to hit all the sports bio marks, and I love that but at the same time the film remains kind of distant. This seemed to be made for an audience other than me.
Sitting with the film a bit I decided that I should probably try it again, and I started it and I found all my preconcieved notions getting in the way. Days on I was still seeing it as I did the first time. With festivals and such coming up I decided to sit with it a bit and then write something for the Baltic FIlm Festival screening and the revisit down the road.
As it stands now I like ULYA. I'm not sure to what degree beyond that. Lest you think that is a knock, it is not because any film that forces you to wrestle with it instead of letting it just wash over you is a must see.
Recommended for those who want their own wrestling match with cinema.
