The Babushkas of Chernobyl

[osprey_archer]

The Babushkas of Chernobyl is a 2015 documentary about the old women who live in the Chernobyl exclusion zone - that is, the area in Ukraine and Belarus that is officially unsafe for human habitation on account of high levels of radiation. (It’s not 100% clear to me if only women returned to the exclusion zone after the disaster, or if the men who went died faster, leaving the area overwhelmingly inhabited by women.)

Honestly I expected this to be rather grim. After all, these women have all had such hard lives: in their youth they suffered the one-two punch of the famine of the 1930s followed by World War II; and forty years later, just as they’re embarking on retirement and old age, there’s the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and they were forced out of the villages where they’ve lived their entire lives despite war and famine. And then they come back to live out their days in their poisoned homes.

But in fact the documentary is unexpectedly charming, in a post-apocalyptic cottagecore kind of way. Yes, absolutely, these gorgeous mushrooms that the babushkas are so lovingly gathering are undoubtedly raising their radiation levels… but on the other hand, when you’re ninety years old surely you get to live however you want, and these women clearly feel they’re living their best lives. When you haven’t got much time left on earth, why not live out your days as a hunter-gatherer-gardener in a lush, fertile, largely depopulated forest mainly inhabited by wolves?

Are you afraid of the wolves? one of the filmmakers asks one of the babushkas. “I’m not afraid of anything, darling,” the babushka replies. A still image of this moment is the reason I watched the movie in the first place: even in the still photograph, you can tell that she means it. She’s seen everything and come out the other side of fear.

Comments

[skygiants]

okay this actually sounds sort of incredible

[osprey_archer]

It was unexpectedly delightful. And I felt like they were really role models for 2020: like, this is how you get on with it when the world has gone to hell.

[asakiyume]

When you haven’t got much time left on earth, why not live out your days as a hunter-gatherer-gardener in a lush, fertile, largely depopulated forest mainly inhabited by wolves?

My heart swells with joy. They're in an Eden of the fearless.

[osprey_archer]

It's really kind of an agrarian dream, if you discount the fact that the produce is all radioactive, and also it only works because the area has a significantly lower population density than most agrarian societies.

[isis]

This sounds very cool. Where is it available?

[osprey_archer]

I watched it on Kanopy, a streaming service that I get through my public library. It looks like it's also available on Amazon Prime.

[oracne]

That sounds really good.

[osprey_archer]

I really enjoyed it!

[kore]

Wow, that sounds amazing.

[osprey_archer]

I found it delightful!

[sovay]

When you haven’t got much time left on earth, why not live out your days as a hunter-gatherer-gardener in a lush, fertile, largely depopulated forest mainly inhabited by wolves?

Good for them!

[osprey_archer]

I found it unexpectedly quite inspiring! You live the lives you want to live, babushkas of Chernobyl!

[silverusagi]

When you haven’t got much time left on earth, why not live out your days as a hunter-gatherer-gardener in a lush, fertile, largely depopulated forest mainly inhabited by wolves?

Well, when you put it like that....

[osprey_archer]

Right? My new retirement plan right there! (Joking... mostly.)

[thawrecka]

This sounds delightful!

[osprey_archer]

I really enjoyed it!

[anna_wing]

I understand that radiation levels within the zone vary a lot. Basically depending on your distance from the reactor and where the cloud was rained into earth.

[osprey_archer]

Yeah, it's not that every single mushroom is chock full of radiation. It's just that if all you ever eat are Chernobyl mushrooms (and Chernobyl potatoes, Chernobyl raspberries, etc etc) it adds up in the end... although apparently radiation affects older people less than young people, and anyway, by the time you're 90, maybe you just don't care anymore? Maybe you just want to eat your mushrooms and listen to the wolves howl.

[anna_wing]

I remember reading about the Fukushima disaster, ('On The Brink', by Kadota Ryusho, which focuses on the immediate actions of the power plant superintendant, the late Yoshia Masao); at one point in the containment operation, when they think something has gone even more wrong and there is about to be a major additional release of radiation, the senior staff send all the younger people away, because they are more susceptible to radiation. And wait.

[brigdh]

Oh, wow, this sounds fascinating!

[osprey_archer]

It's really good! I so enjoyed watching it.

[lokifan]

Wow, this sounds fascinating!

[osprey_archer]

It was pretty great!