Chelyuskin: A Cold, Brutal Look at Arctic Survival

Is this for you?

Honestly, you probably already know if you’re the type of person who digs 1930s newsreel-style survival footage. If you need a smooth narrative or talking heads explaining why things matter, stay far away. You will be bored to tears. But if you like seeing the edges of a frame shake because the camera operator is wearing thick mittens? You’ll love it.

The whole thing feels like a fever dream of ice and wind. The Chelyuskin steamship gets crushed by the pack ice, and suddenly these guys are just living on a frozen floe in the middle of nowhere. It’s not elegant.

Sometimes the film cuts away for what feels like an eternity to show a random seal or just a pile of slush. It’s weirdly hypnotic. Like, I’m sitting here in a warm chair and I can still feel the frost in my sinuses.

The grainy reality

The footage of the ship going down is surprisingly chaotic. It doesn’t have that polished, staged feel you get in modern documentaries about the past. It feels like they were barely holding onto the camera. The ship tilts. People slide around. It’s a mess.

There is this one shot of a group of men staring at a small fire that goes on for way too long. No one is talking. The wind is just howling over the audio track, making this awful, metallic screeching noise. It’s honestly more haunting than any dramatic reenactment I’ve ever seen.

It reminds me a bit of the raw, uncomfortable energy in Devyatoe yanvarya, where you feel like you’re watching something you weren't supposed to witness. It isn't a comfortable watch.

• The sound design is basically just wind and static.
• The way the light reflects off the ice makes everything look slightly overexposed.
• The guys have these massive, ridiculous-looking fur hats that make them all look like giant, shivering bears.

It’s not trying to win any cinematography awards. It’s just trying to show that they didn't die out there. I kept waiting for a narrator to pop in and tell me how to feel, but they never really do. It just ends, more or less. Just like that.

If you want a contrast in how survival is portrayed, maybe compare this to something like False Trails, though they are worlds apart. One is a struggle against the elements, the other is just... something else entirely. This isn't a movie you watch for fun on a Friday night. It's a document of people trying to not become ice cubes. 🧊