Tuya's Marriage

Tuya' marriage is among one of the most successful attempts by China's sixth-generation directors to make a good film. Other equally successful ones included the Beijing Bicycle, the Little Red Flowers, etc, which were all made by film directors not quite familiar to Western viewers --- at least not as known as big names like Zhang Yimou.

The film is so real to life and depicts the life on the vast lands of Inner Mongolia so well, that it reminds me of my piecemeal impressions gathered during my trip to Inner Mongolia six years ago --- people were impoverished but so kind, materially backward but spiritually advanced, and the traditional way of life is preserved well.

Yu Nan's performance is really amazing. The plot is so moving and touching that at some points I felt so much involved as to worry about Sengge's death through drilling.

This is a new kind of experience even for Han Chinese to learn about the Mongolian life, and I hope it can be the same kind of revealing experience for audience in the West to understand the ethnic diversity in China --- Mongolians live harmoniously with Han Chinese in the same country called "China", just as it is the case with the other 55 minorities, including Tibetans.

In a nutshell --- Tuya's Marriage indeed deserves the Golden Bear at Berlinale, be it in essence or in name.

I just finished watching Tuya's marriage at the Berlin Film Festival and would rate it 8/10. The movie deals with a herder woman in Inner Mongolia who decides to divorce because her husband is sick and unable to care for her and the family. Since she still loves him, any prospective new husband must promise to care for her and the kids as well as for her old husband.

The plot may sound a bit constructed, but it actually works remarkably well. The pictures are great, and after D. Byambasuren's rather static movies this is finally a drama set in the steppes. The most important thing is probably that the movie takes its subjects seriously. Maybe a bit too seriously at times, but not that seriously that it disturbs the movie.

So, why not giving it 10/10? I missed the Mongolian language. Of course language isn't everything (see Mongolian Pingpong or Apocalypto), but when even the drinking habits are dealt with in greatest detail, why didn't they bother to find a cast that can speak Mongolian? I asked the director about why they used Chinese (that's what you go on film festivals for), but his answer was not really convincing. I suppose some opportunistic reason, like the main actress can't speak Mongolian. Anyway, this only means that you can as well enjoy this movie in a dubbed version.

In short: Definitely recommended.

This movie makes me think about myself: compare the living conditions between Mongolia and us, I definitely think I am lucky, and thanks to my family. In Mongolia, the child needs to do a lot of work that I did not even try before, and they are lacking water resource. Also, their transportation is poor. Tuya's Marriage also shows their attitude of living, they do not give up, they still want to stay at their home instead of going to the city. Tuya is a strong woman, his husband is paralytic, so she needs to take care of her family by herself; she goes thousands of miles to get water and depasture sheeps every day, even she has physical problems. She divorced her husband in order to give a better condition to her family, she says everyone wants to marry me needs also need to support her ex-husband. The favorite scene in this movie is her child had been trapped in a wolf attack, she comes and says" do not worry, if these wolves attack you, I will eat them and leave these sheep here, I am gonna take you home". On this movie, I see a great mom, wife and a hot heart person.

This is an exotic film that recalls other indigenous Mongolian tales by Byambasuren Davaa such as The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003) or The Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005). It also has much in common with the Tibetan film Himalaya (1999) and rural Iranian cinema. The story, like that in each of these other films, is very simple - a woman's husband is incapacitated and she seeks a new man who will support the old.

The cinematography is beautiful with the harshness of the inner Mongolian landscape captured aesthetically. Dialogue is sparse, and the film is very observational, documenting a way of life that is gradually receding into the past. The herding and riding of animals, the digging of wells, the visits from potential suitors and other aspects of rural life are nicely captured, and contrast against the oncoming tide of modernity.

Thematically, the film has more in common with Breaking the Waves (1996), my favourite Lars von Trier film. There is both humour and heartbreak as the story unfolds. I didn't find the film quite as effective as Weeping Camel but a nice bit of cultural diversity that's worth seeing.

One of he most interesting films from chines mainland. There are no stunt fights, no killings. This is a human story with human complexities and how a strong woman tries to solve her problem. He enduring love and affections for her disabled husband and her children constitute the main theme. In the background there is another actor, THE LANDSCAPE. Even though the steppe land with brushes and those mountains are harsh to the inhabitants, on screen it looks breathtaking. The film shows how women were doing back-breaking chores(literally in this case) for ages for which man has to be thankful and gracious to her. An absorbing film to watch.