Ala kachuu (2020) User Reviews

Tradition tradition

[isaacsundaralingam · 9/10 · 20 March 2022]

It's often frustrating how the worst aspects of society always hides behind the word "Tradition". It's a word that demands respect and servitude enough to nullify all avenues of criticisms. And one of the greatest examples of this on film is this year's Ala Kachuu - Take and Run by director Maria Brendle.

Ala Kachuu is about the very (locally) common tradition of bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan. We follow 19-year old Sezim, as portrayed brilliantly by actress Alina Turdumamatova, her abduction and marriage to her abductor, and the pressures of tradition and family that falls on the young girl who was never meant to be where she is. What seems like the most obvious violation of one's right to choose their future is in fact praised and cheered on for the sake of tradition, and seeing it unfold on screen with the realization that this exaggeration(?) mirrors real life for hundreds and thousands of young girls in Kyrgyzstan is just an infuriatingly difficult pill to swallow.

Ala Kachuu is a success in every front. From its on screen performances to its off screen technical detail... the movie pretty much sums up how effective this format of filmmaking can be. Nominated for "Best Live Action Short Film" for the 2022 Academy Awards, Ala Kachuu is most definitely the best of the lot. I don't think this movie has any shot winning the award however, with (the massively overrated) "The Long Goodbye" being the clear frontrunner in terms of the type of short films the Academy rewards, but that doesn't discount the brilliance that is Ala Kachuu.

It's definitely worth the watch!

Eye opening

[theseekerhp · 7/10 · 2 March 2022]

A well-done piece about a form of human trafficking of which I was perhaps naively ignorant.

Sezim is young Kyrgyz woman who hopes to receive a scholarship to attend university, and consequently escape the life of household drudgery that her family is setting her up for. She gets a job at a bakery, and one day small group of young men with a sinister vibe come in asking about her coworker. She tells them her coworker has gone home sick, and therefore she doesn't know when she'll return. The men leave, but after she locks the store, they reappear and kidnap her. It soon becomes clear that, since her coworker wasn't available, they decided to take Sezim, in order to force her to marry one of the men.

I find the discovery of the details of a movie add to my surprise and enjoyment (I don't watch previews because of this, and only one-paragraph capsule reviews). While what I'm about to say doesn't rise to the level of spoiler, I would skip the next paragraph unless you *do* watch previews.

Apparently this is a still-accepted practice in some parts of rural Kyrgyzstan, of which I was unaware (as I previously mentioned). So accepted, in fact, that none of the relatives of Sezim's new husband, nor even Sezim's parents, have any reservations about the practice.

The filmmakers have done a great job of storytelling. I found myself engrossed in the story and strongly rooting for Sezim to escape her situation. I also felt grateful that they showed me, not just that bride-napping happens, but how it happens, how Kyrgyz society reacts to it, and how Sezim feels to be going through it.

One quibble. For me it's a big one, but may not be for you. It is never clear during the film where this is happening. They mention Bishkek, but until I got home and looked it up, I didn't know that it's the capital of Kyrgyzstan. I'm sure that there are other places in the world where it's culturally acceptable to kidnap women to be brides. As a terrifying reality, I would think that the filmmakers would want their audience to know where their story was set, and where else in the world the same story happens. The way they tell the story, I'm sure they want the free world to be aware of it. But for it to change, I would think they would want people to know *where* the change needs to happen.

Heartbreaking tale of (sadly not only) one woman

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 17 March 2022]

"Ala Kachuu - Take and Run" is a Swiss movie which you probably would not have expected given the title and subject location, but well it is also a co-production with Kyrgyzstan and the language from beginning to end is Kyrgyz. The Swiss component comes mostly from the relatively young writer and director Maria Brendle, who has worked on some Swiss productions too in the last few years in fields like editing or as a casting director. How multitalented Brendle is, she has also shown the world by reaching a master's degree in cognitive neuroscience. Impressive stuff, but with this work here we can probably be sure that she will stay in the film industry for many years to come. Germany has Maria Schrader as its shining female director these days. Why not another Maria for Switzerland? Namely Brendle. But let's take a look at this film now. At 38 minutes, it is the longest Oscar nominee from the live action short category this year and it is also easily my favorite. I think three films were okay or good, one was really disappointing and this fifth entry is the one that truly shines. The story is already heartbreaking enough, but seeing how this is very close to reality (in contrast to the Riz Ahmed film that has nothing to do with reality and is shock factor only), I feel that it becomes an even more important project showing the world that this happens still so many times in the 21st century. That, ladies (and gentlemen), is actual anti-female gender discrimination. A woman working at a bakery gets abducted completely out of nowhere and against her will because her colleague, the initial target, had left already. Moments later, the protagonist is forced to marry against her will. The lead actress is Alina Turdumamatova by the way and she surely deserves a mention. I hope this film can help her to stay active in the industry too, maybe also as part of international productions.

I also liked the way how the supporting characters are depicted here. The husband is not the bad guy. Or not totally. He is also a bit of a victim of the entire situation and simply has to follow antiquated guidelines and traditions. If there is an antagonist in here, then there are actually several. All these woman taking care of the girl right after the abduction, most of all the one who makes sure she will not simply get out of the room, but puts an enormous emotional pressure on the young woman. The girl's family also got an interesting inclusion. I am talking of course about the moment when they come by to visit her daughter. The latter thinks they are there to take her home, but the opposite is the case. They agree with what the bad guys were doing. They have no choice really. Especially the protagonist's mother is to blame here. We also see another character's mother and what happened to her when her daughter took a completely different route. Her reputation is destroyed forever. The idea with the best friend and the test the protagonist had to take early on was another alright inclusion. Quite telling that friends fight for her, but her family does not.

It all fits together and feels really easy to cheer for the young woman and really want her to get away. Her first attempt on horseback leads to no success, but the second does. She manages to get away by car. Initially, I wondered if somebody maybe left the keys in the laundry intentionally to help her, but now I kinda doubt it and it was just a lucky moment for her I guess. Her followers are not far away for sure. Oh and when a little girl has to give some courage to her older (almost) grown-up sister, then there is somehthing going extremely wrong! The sort-of epilogue with the truck driver and his reward for taking her with him was also solid closure and it was nice to see her safe for now. So yeah, big thumbs-up for this film and if it really manages to win the Oscar, it would be an awesome pick. I truly want it to win and applaud everybody who was a part of this project, especially the locals who maybe have an even deeper connection with the issue at hand here because of where they originate from. In any case, this is a film you do not wanna miss out on. No matter if you are male or female and how old you are. One of the finest short films from 2020. Highly recommended.