THE LIGHTS NEVER DIM: POLINA VYNOHRADOVA ON CINEMA’S ENDURING POWER

December 4, 2024

“A painting can hypnotise you, a song can give you goosebumps, and a book can make you cry. A film combines all these art forms.”

IN CONVERSATION WITH POLINA VYNOHRADOVA

POLINA VYNOHRADOVA

Growing up in Ukraine, Polina Vynohradova was endlessly fascinated by film from a young age. This obsession began when her dad first brought home a VHS player. This moment marked the beginning of an epic love affair that continues to this day.

Whilst the way we consume films has changed in the modern era, Polina still treasures her first memories of visiting her local cinema.

It is a moment which remains vivid and nostalgic in her mind, and that special feeling remains now every time she walks into a cinema, where the buzz and anticipation of watching a film on the big screen awaits.

As co-founder of the superb Stunner Media, with her partner Serge Shcherbyna, football and fashion are important parts of Polina’s life. However, it is film that has been with her the longest, changing her life ever since she first pressed play on that VHS.

From that moment she began to discover a whole new world that would be her companion throughout her life and introduce her to the likes of Peter Jackson, Quentin Tarintino and Paolo Sorrentino.

For Polina, film is more than entertainment—it’s an art form capable of profound emotional and intellectual impact.

“A painting can hypnotise you, a song can give you goosebumps, and a book can make you cry. A film combines all these art forms. Its biggest power is how it affects you on multiple levels simultaneously.”

This reverence for cinema has led her to explore a diverse array of genres and filmmakers, from the psychological depth of Hitchcock, Kubrick and Lynch to the poetic storytelling of Sorrentino.

Polina’s life could easily be mistaken for the plot of a Hollywood movie. Fleeing Ukraine on the eve of the Russian invasion, she and her partner Serge said goodbye to their homeland, leaving behind the beloved vintage football store they had created together.

From that moment on they embarked on a journey across Europe, taking them first to Belgium and eventually to Manchester, where they built a new life for themselves from the ground up.

In their adopted city, they quickly set about opening Stunner Vintage Football Store while gaining a reputation for their distinctive sartorial flair and creative, imaginative videos, which have been viewed by millions of people worldwide. A career as a director may still lie ahead.

In the meantime, Polina and Serge have decided to close the Stunner Vintage Football Store’s physical location while keeping their online operations open, allowing them to explore the many opportunities currently coming their way. It’s fair to say the past few years have been eventful. However, Polina isn’t entirely convinced that her story is ready to be turned into a movie just yet.

“I have to say I don’t think a film about my life would be a box office sensation, but if I let my imagination fly for a minute – it would be an existential drama about finding your way in life, taking a risk, romanticising things, and fighting with yourself along the way directed by Paolo Sorrentino.

“I would probably leave the role to myself as that would help me to fulfil one of my biggest dreams of becoming an actress. “Get a Life” sounds like a good name for this project.”

With her love of football, I asked Polina if there has ever been a genuinely good film depicting the beautiful game. Her answer is unequivocal and said without missing a beat, “The Hand of God (2021) by Paolo Sorrentino. He is showing us the power of football outside of the pitch in the most poetic way.”

Throughout our conversation, Polina takes a nuanced look at modern cinema. She laments the simplicity of many Netflix productions and modern blockbusters, which she compares to “a conveyor of content, not cinema,” but remains hopeful about the power of independent filmmaking.

She admits to having almost no limits in terms of genre, and a penchant for 90s films. It is though a film from the early 2000s that has her heart forever.

‘If the human race had finally succeeded in destroying itself and we had to move to another planet and I could only take one film, then “I’m taking the director’s cut of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003). Most definitely.

“If I had to explain to the inhabitants of this new planet what the human race is all about, it’s all right there—a constant battle between good and evil.”

Lord of the Rings provided Polina with one of her first memories of the film, an epic adventure that set fire to her imagination.

My experience of the film was for full transparency somewhat different. It involved an incredibly awkward date, at the age of 16. I recall falling asleep during it, being startled awake and somehow managing to poke my eye, knock my contact lens out and end up with an eye infection. Needless to say, there was no second date. I will forever blame Peter Jackson and Frodo.

My harrowing eye injury aside, Polina is a true connoisseur of cinema. She speaks passionately about the Golden Age of Hollywood, the mastery of filmmakers like Kubrick, and who she believes is one of the finest actresses of our time.

When I ask her who her four ideal dinner guests from the history of cinema would be and what film she would screen for them she thinks at length and thoughtfully considers her answers. Her eyes flickered with excitement at the prospect of such an evening.

“It would have to be Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock, Paolo Sorrentino and Alice Rohrwacher and I would screen “Tini zabutykh predkiv” (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, 1965) by Serhii Paradzhanov.”

With the logistics of organising such a night fairly tricky, we instead opted for a cinematic stroll down memory lane in Fopp where the aisles are lined with treasures from a golden era of film.

Polina delved her way through Hitchcock’s classics as she spoke about her love of film, cinematic guilty pleasures, and controversial movie opinions. She also gives us her thoughts on the most overrated and underrated films of all time and reveals which film has impacted her more than any other. And… action!

I STILL REMEMBER THE SMELL OF THAT CINEMA THEATRE

I’ve been watching films since I was 4-5 years old. I remember my dad brought home a VHS player and I was crazy fascinated with it.

My earliest memory of film was watching Lord of the Rings (2001). I managed to watch it till the end even though my parents fell asleep. I still absolutely love this film, to me it is one of the greatest.

If we are talking about my first cinema experience, when I was five me and my parents went to see the premier of probably one of the worst films ever made – Cats & Dogs (2001).

I don’t remember if I liked it back then, but the feeling of watching a film on a big screen was sensational. I still remember the smell of that cinema theatre. These were my first memories of cinema, but the golden era started when I was 14. Finally, I was old enough to perceive complicated films like Mulholland Drive (2001) or Vertigo (1958).

I HAD NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT BEFORE

There are dozens of films which impacted me growing up, but I think one that particularly stands out for me is The Antichrist (2009). It was a mind-blowing experience for a 16-year-old me.

I started watching it at night, thinking that if I fell asleep then I’d finish it in the morning. God, I was so naive, because from the very first scene and till the end I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. I had never seen anything like it before.

I have almost no limits in terms of genre, but my favourite films are usually psychological dramas and thrillers. I also like when a film has a symbolism or a metaphor in it.

I can’t pick a favourite director/film/actor. I just can’t do that. But fuck it if I had to, I would say my top 5 are – Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Quentin Tarantino, and Yorgos Lanthimos.

THAT’S ITS BIGGEST POWER

The more films and genres I watched, I started to discover masters that had a great impact on the history of cinema like Godard, Truffaut, Antonioni, Fellini, Kubrick etc.

I was so obsessed with films, that I could watch three in a row and then at 2 AM start watching something like Nosferatu (1922) because I found it in a list of the iconic horror films. I literally lived in a film festival format.

Many art forms are very powerful by themselves. A painting can hypnotise you, a song can give you goosebumps, and a book can make you cry. A film combines all of these art forms. Visual, music, script – it affects you on multiple levels simultaneously, that’s its biggest power.

ELEGANCE AND SEXINESS

It’s impossible for me to speak of the greatness of all time, because how different was cinema in the Golden Era of Hollywood compared to now?

It was a period of another aesthetics, especially for actresses – femme fatale vibe, elegance and sexiness.

The acting was more theatrical and a bit sterile for a modern viewer. Women even cried elegantly and beautifully – that was a sign of a good act – where you showed not raw, but cinematic and exaggerated emotions.

I have a feeling that only in the past 20 years actors’ performances have become more real on the screen, the range of emotions and feelings that we see on the big screen now is limitless.

Now the sign of a good act is when we cannot even see the actor playing the role. It must be as real as in life.

For me, one of the greatest performers of our era will be Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Stone. Even though she is still very young, I see an enormous potential in her and I think she is one of the best actresses of our time.

THE CINEMA IS LIKE GOING TO A BEAUTIFUL RESTAURANT

I guess my controversial film take would be that, modern action films suck. Many of these blockbusters that got released in the past decade or so are basically all the same.

They all involve quick cuts, weak plots, a lack of drama and absolutely non-interesting action scenes that cost hundreds of millions to make.

They also usually star Dwayne Johnson who has contributed a lot to the decline of action films in my opinion.

If I were to say the most overrated film of all time then it would have to be Deadpool (2016). The most underrated for me is – Mother! (2017).

As you may have guessed I’m not a fan of modern blockbusters, so usually I go to the cinema because of the retrospectives or because there is a film festival with a lot of different stuff on the programme. It’s always an independent cinema, not a mall cinema. That’s the must.

The best film I’ve ever seen at the cinema is 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). It has this iconic psychedelic scene and watching it on the big screen was breathtaking.

The Netflix experience is like eating takeaway food, while the cinema experience is more like going to a beautiful restaurant.

These are completely different approaches and both can be enjoyable or disappointing. But no matter what, going to the cinema always gives me a special feeling.

IT IS ONE THAT MAKES YOU LAUGH AND CRY

If I were to recommend one film that everybody should watch once in their life then it would be one that I believe can touch the souls of very different types of people, and it would be one of my favourites – Asphalte (2015). It is the one that makes you laugh and cry but leaves a very good feeling in the end.

My guilty pleasure films are mid-rated thrillers from the 90s and 00s. These where the main character is cheating and then this affair destroys his/her life or where the main character seems like a nice person, but really is a psychopath. Like Unfaithful (2002), Scissors (1991), Fatal Attraction (1987), A Perfect Murder (1998).

The films that I have seen more than any other, or films that I can watch anytime and it feels like I’m still seeing for the first time would be – The Shining (1980), Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and Black Swan (2010).

IT’S JUST A CONVEYOR OF CONTENT NOT CINEMA

I really love 90s films – just because of the style of the era. It’s so pleasing to my eyes, the costumes, the make-up, the grain of the film, and the absence of smartphones on the screen.

Living in the Netflix era, I feel like films are being simplified more and more, allowing viewers to scroll through TikTok and still follow the plot. For me it’s not interesting; I get bored very easily.”

With these blockbusters, everything is happening so quickly and we have a cut every second – it’s so overloading so in-your-face. Again – for me, it’s just boring.

I believe that soon more and more films will be made by AI. I already kinda feel that with Netflix-made films. It’s just a conveyor of content, not cinema.

But there is not just Netflix, we have a lot of great studios that will continue to give us some good and sometimes even great films. And if not there are thousands of old films that are worth a watch.