| Sunday, 14 April 2013 00:00 |
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There are two film reviews written by Gulbara Tolomushova: A Hidden Life and The Hope of the Last Teacher.
1. Fragment from A Hidden Life:
Temir Birnazarov has completed work on his new film, The Sponsor. It is the story of people who have no intention to expose their lives. Therefore, the action largely takes place in twilight. The interiors are stripped of natural light: the windows are covered with heavy curtains. The majority of the film consists of long shots, while wide-angle shots are missing entirely. All the mise-en-scenes are static, and the individual takes tend to be long.
The heroes are in the grip of a set of rules. They lead a secret life, hidden from extraneous eyes, yet the audience is let into this life: we, the spectators, are expert observers of this life. The director seems to give to us the opportunity (or the right) to observe the protagonists by offering an unusual format of rendering the material. He believes that the expert-viewers are capable of joining fragments and nuances in their minds, and reach the right conclusion.
Please open: Temir Birnazarov: The Sponsor (2013) reviewed by Gulbara Tolomushova © 2013
2. Fragment from The Hope of the Last Teacher:
“Have you read Evening Bishkek?”—the zealous defender of the Russian language and retired literature teacher Talip does not give the director a school on Lake Issyk-Kul a break even to go to the toilet. He wants to make the head-teacher aware that the pain of losing the subject in the curriculum is not only his, Talip’s; the popular newspaper of the capital also voices its distress: “Already 70 per cent of the population speak no Russian,” and Talip adds: “and next year it’ll be 100 per cent.” (Shakir 2013)
The Muscovite Elizaveta Stishova, a graduate from the Higher Courses for Scriptwriters and Directors, has made a short film with an original idea, accomplished in form, and ideally performed: The Seagull. It deals with the current status of Russian in Kyrgyzstan.
Please open: Elizaveta Stishova: The Seagull (Chaika, 2013) reviewed by Gulbara Tolomushova © 2013
Translated by Birgit Beumers
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New reviews about Kyrgyz films at Kinokultura