Wedding Chest (2006)
"Sunduk predkov" (original title)

There is great excitement in Aidar's home one fine day when he comes back from Paris to his mountain village with a charming French girl called Isabelle. Aidar has changed but everything at... See full summary »

Director:

Nurbek Egen

Writers:

Nurbek Egen, Ekaterina Tirdatova

Stars:

Natacha Régnier, Bolot Tentimyshov, Tynar Abdrazaeva

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Natacha Régnier	...	Isabelle
Bolot Tentimyshov	...	Aïdar
Tynar Abdrazaeva	...	Aisha (Aidar's Mother) (as Tynara Abdrazaeva)
Melis Sharshenbaev	...	Aidar's Father
Asan Amanov	...	Yusup
Marat Zhanteliev	...	Osonbaï
Absamat Uulu Nurseit	...	Timur
Marat Kozukeev	...	Ermek
Zhenishbek Smanov	...	Azamat
Nazira Orozalieva	...	Zuura
Evgeniya Dobrovolskaya	...	The Chemist
Ayzhan Akylbekova	...	Saadat
Ainura Turgunbaeva	...	Matchmaker
Aidai Saitova	...	Ermek's Wife
Kyzy Kunduz Nurbek	...	Ermek's Elder Daughter

Storyline

There is great excitement in Aidar's home one fine day when he comes back from Paris to his mountain village with a charming French girl called Isabelle. Aidar has changed but everything at home has remained the same. Lake Issyk-Kul sparkles silver and turquoise, the air is so pure it tinkles and the snow-covered summits of the mountains sparkle in the sun. Isabelle cannot understand how Aidar could leave such beauty behind and why he cannot tell everyone that she is his fiancee. But shades of the past, embodied in the grim figure of the local postman, give Aidar no rest. A threat hangs over the couple's love.

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Plot Keywords:

love | paris france | character name in title

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

France Germany Kyrgyzstan Russia

Language:

French Kirghiz Russian

Release Date:

25 March 2006 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Isabelle ou La rencontre inattendue

Filming Locations:

Issyk-kul, Kyrgyzstan

Box Office

Budget:

€1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kinoglaz, MACT Productions, Pygmalion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Breathtaking scenery, thought-provoking and interesting story

This is one of those independent movies that will never reach the great audience, one of those movies you have to look for. It's a pity, because it is a noteworthy piece of cinema, firstly because it is focused on a reality, on a country we don't know much about, and I discovered a wonderful landscape and a culture I had never seen or heard about. Secondly, because the clash of cultures represented by the Parisian free-thinking girl and the Kyrgyz people can be transposed, on a different level, also to western society, where deep contrasts between people belonging to different cultures and religions often cause deep problems of co-habitation and reciprocal respect. The message is comforting, supporting the idea that respect for tradition should go hand in hand with reason and common sense, and not turn into passatism. The young are those who have the task and often the burden to find a possible, however difficult, balance between past culture and modern world. Tradition is a precious heritage to be protected and respected, but not an untouchable and fossilized set of out of time rites and everyone has the right or the duty to question and to revise them according to modern sensibility, which has also a value of its own. This is an issue that concerns every culture, every religion, especially in today's multi-ethnic ad multicultural societies. The movie, despite the slow pace at some moments, offers also funny moments, the two main characters are well paired and prove good performances, especially Isabelle, who is portrayed, at the beginning, as too ingenuously gullible, but undergoes a positive and credible evolution as she gets more in contact with the real nature of the local people. But what really impresses the viewer is the sublime landscape, rendered through long and vivid shooting, which makes those images stick in our memory.