The plot is about Nagima, an 18-year old, Kazakh girl, who is poor and lonely. In this story we see how she handles it. She doesn't care much about the poverty but she does long for love. I tell this in every review of mine, that as an outsider I probably miss some of the local context, so there might be an aspect that reflects on Kazakhstan. What I do see is that Nagima is oppressed by male dominance (landlord, boss), by the institutions (hospital) and also by higher classes. The plot also has an existential aspect wondering if life is worth without love, and whether all the misery is worth living.
The first, socially sensitive third of the plot is dominated by Nagima's weariness to draw the viewer down to her level of being emotionlessly tired, and then the second third lets us understand her past, feelings and thoughts, and the film becomes much more emotional under the surface. The final third elevates into the aforementioned existential plane, but all along the plot is down-to earth. While this might sound like misery porn, it is neither elevating or downtreading, or rather it is both.
The realisation is fun, there are a lot of static images, long takes, it is so slow sometimes that we can see the scene long before and after something happens in it. These are usually more distant takes, but there are also many close-ups which do not show the object but rather a part of it. The scenery is shabby, nature is vast and arid, and similarly, the characters also don't talk much. Nagima's emoitonlessness is contrasted by other characters' more vivid acting, which sometimes make it look bad acting. By the way, it's a women's film, there are almost no men at all which gives their appearance significance. I liked the music, they sound like traditional Kazakh instruments with a modern, dissonant take.
All in all, I enjoyed the film, it is well thought-through and realised. I think it could have had a much bigger impact on the viewer if it decided to go to a negative or a positive direction.
The first, socially sensitive third of the plot is dominated by Nagima's weariness to draw the viewer down to her level of being emotionlessly tired, and then the second third lets us understand her past, feelings and thoughts, and the film becomes much more emotional under the surface. The final third elevates into the aforementioned existential plane, but all along the plot is down-to earth. While this might sound like misery porn, it is neither elevating or downtreading, or rather it is both.
The realisation is fun, there are a lot of static images, long takes, it is so slow sometimes that we can see the scene long before and after something happens in it. These are usually more distant takes, but there are also many close-ups which do not show the object but rather a part of it. The scenery is shabby, nature is vast and arid, and similarly, the characters also don't talk much. Nagima's emoitonlessness is contrasted by other characters' more vivid acting, which sometimes make it look bad acting. By the way, it's a women's film, there are almost no men at all which gives their appearance significance. I liked the music, they sound like traditional Kazakh instruments with a modern, dissonant take.
All in all, I enjoyed the film, it is well thought-through and realised. I think it could have had a much bigger impact on the viewer if it decided to go to a negative or a positive direction.
