Netflix is now streaming two seasons of "Servant of the People," the 2015-2018 Ukrainian comedy series created and produced by (and starring) Volodymyr Zelensky as Vasily Goloborodko, a high-school history teacher who is catapulted to the presidency of Ukraine after his profane rant against government corruption and incompetence is filmed by one of his students and goes viral on social media. This is the show, as everyone knows by now, that catapulted Zelensky himself to the presidency of Ukraine in real life.
It's worth watching. It is much funnier that I expected - Zelensky is a very talented comic actor. And the "production values" are much higher than I expected, too; I think that I was, rather stupidly, expecting it to look like one of those films from Eastern Europe in the 60s - all grainy black-and-white, badly lit, dull and depressing backdrops, etc. - but in fact it looks a lot more like "Friends" or "Parks and Recreation." Very professionally put together, well-directed, well-acted, nicely-paced.
The current events in Ukraine, needless to say, add a terribly somber subtext to what was originally a very light-hearted show. It gives the show a very strange emotional resonance, unlike anything I've ever experienced before. A number of episodes take place out of doors, as "President Goloborodko" travels from one part of Kyiv to another, and the scenes of life on the streets of Kyiv are simultaneously lovely - it looks to me like all of the filming was done in springtime, and the city is gloriously awash in flowers and flowering trees - and heart-breaking, given the recent images showing the savagery that the Russians have unleashed in and around the city.
