Another dull film in which we see nomads struggle to survive between endless incidents of livestock-oriented tragedy. The trailer paints this as a comedy, but the funny parts simply bookend 80 minutes of stillbirths and the most annoying and shrill child endlessly bleating a song.
shareDull is in the eye of the beholder, my friend. I found this movie to be a fantastic film that really transports you to the life of the Kazakh steppe sheepherding family. The fact that the director was a documentary filmmaker shows through as he captures some amazing footage of the biggest character in the film - the steppe itself. Dull? Maybe, but how can you have a movie about life in the barren nothingness of that great expanse that doesn't move slowly? Life there moves slowly.
I disagree about the girl being "shrill" and "bleating" a song. She is doing all she can to be heard by a father who seems to care more about his sheep than he does his own daughter. I think her voice is great - on key, a bit nasal, but that's the way traditional Kazakh songs are sung.
I give this movie two high thumbs up.
Absolutely spot-on kelt-atyrau. When I first heard the girl's voice I was transfixed by this movie (which was so stunning in its realism that it did at times seem like a documentary - on family life on the steppes). I did later get annoyed by it (her singing), but that was so real too. There were times when she was singing to ANNOY her brother/others.
The realism was painful at times. I can be a bit sensitive about seeing animals suffer - whether it was simulated or real. But child(sheep)birth is painful, and can be tragic in real life.
To me the best characters in this film were the children - so natural and real. There were some long sequences where nothing much was happening but, unless you have the attention span of a gnat, it should not have stopped you enjoying this film. I imagine it was a fairly true portrayal of life on the steppes.
That was rather the point. Living in a single room, buffetted by shrieking wind, coated in dust, with nothing to do but chase sheep around a featureless plateau in between listening to Kazakh State Radio and a girl's endless singing...so yes, livestock-oriented tragedy is going to be one of the main plot points. They do live a hand to mouth existence after all, so a string of dead lambs could prove catastrophic to this family.
And yet the young sailor (despite sailing the world and wrestling with an octopus) wants a corner of this bleak landscape to make his home? Albeit with satellite TV. And only if he can pin his ears back to please a neighbour girl (who lives a day's drive away) whom he's never seen...it's full of things to ponder and enjoy. I thought it was very funny and sweet.