Florìan Jur’jev’s work across several decades has led to him inventing his own language for colour, art, and creation. As an architect, musician, filmmaker, and painter, his Renaissance qualities are celebrated openly in Oleksiy Radynski’s new documentary. Infinity According to Florian covers much life and somehow even more art (much previously unseen) in its mere 70 minutes, a portrait of a genius forever at work on a quest for perfection. 

The documentary’s subject comes across as one never at ease with orthodoxies and methods for their own sake. Jur’jev invites the camera into his home and life, talking easily through his theories and the alphabet he created to better express himself in his work. Radynski’s camera is attentive, eagerly capturing the minutest detail without awe or over-emphasis. While the through-line between private studio explorations, public commissions, and lectures and exhibitions is soaked in Jur’jev’s own language of colour and musicality, Radynski takes care to explore how his unique projects have spawned new uses and interpretations – most famously, his venue for ‘Light Theatre Performances’ which has been used as a traditional cinema space since its creation. The juxtaposition of utility and utopianism looms large throughout the film, and no answers are offered when grand ambitions collide against physics and capitalism. 

There is little interrogation in the documentary – indeed it would be stretched to include more than it does, with such a short run time. But bringing an extraordinary man’s work to a wider audience is its own service, letting new eyes see the world in Jur’jev’s idiosyncratic way. 

With the future of Jur’jev’s grandest project hanging in the balance, Infinity According to Florian feels like a rich sliver of an unfolding story, fitting in its incompleteness. After spending time with Jur’jev, the world feels bigger yet no less infinitely, creatively accessible. 

RATING: 4/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Florìan Jur’jev

DIRECTOR: Oleksiy Radynski

WRITER: Oleksiy Radynski

SYNOPSIS: Florìan Jur’jev’s visionary work as a multi-talented creative artist is explored in a documentary on his most ambitious projects.

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