Customer Reviews

Absurdistan

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Remember 'Lysistrata' written by Aristophanes in 411 BC, a comedy of 'one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata convinces the women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands and lovers as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace, a strategy however that inflames the battle between the sexes. The play is notable for its exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society and for its use of both double entendre and explicit obscenities'? Writer/director Veit Helmer (with co-writers Gordon Mihic and Zaza Buadze) have very successfully updated this tale, bathed it in magical realism and fantasy, placed it somewhere along the Silk Road in the mountains where no one would want to live, and have called it ABSURDISTAN. This is one of those films that very thankfully requires us to surrender the need for realism and substitute the pleasure of laughing and spend a comfortable hour and a half of parody of current sexism and the rich treasures of old movies, bawdy silliness, and the magic of love. For this viewer it works on every level - thanks in part to the imaginative cinematography of Giorgi Beridze and the charm of Shigeru Umebayashi's musical score.

Absurdistan has a problem: the water supply that comes from a complex well system in the mountains outside the town has diminished to a trickle. The men of the town ignore their wives' complaints, preferring instead to gather daily in the local teahouse, leaving the women to not only tend to their homes but also finish the work of the men. A significant diverting part of this community is a young couple who have been in love since childhood, married in a mock ceremony at age 8, matured to teenagers- Aya (Kristyna Malérová) and Temelko (Maximilian Mauf) - but warned by the girl's grandmother (Nino Chkheidze) that they may not consummate their union until the stars are in alignment in four years! Temelko has spent his youth inventing things, not exactly in the mold of the other men of the village. He and Aya believe that their sexual union will give Aya the ability to fly, and Temelko intends to keep that concept viable.

The young men of Absurdistan, Temelko among them, are bused off to some city where they are to learn how to fix the water shortage. While they are gone the women, much due to Aya's leadership decide that in order to force the lazy men to work on the problem, they will withhold conjugal obligations: no water, no sex. The bus returns -empty - and only Temelko comes back to the village because of Aya. The silly men decide to avoid being dominated by the women's rule and try multiple ways to find satisfaction, first by attempting to leave town to go gallivanting into the city (aborted by the wives), then to invite a carnival shooting gallery into the town - the prize being a night with the shooting gallery owner's (Ivane Ivantbelidze) daughter (Ani Amiridze). Naturally the one who can successfully hit the target is Temelko, and while Aya believes Temelko will sacrifice his conjugal initiation, he instead devises inventions that entertain Aya and eventually he is able to solve the water problem. And as promised, with the entire village celebrating restored physical bliss, Temelko sets off a fantastical machine that allows Aya to fly - and return, thrilled, back to his arms.

Though this film is directed by the fine German director Veit Helmer, the feeling is entirely that of Russian folklore. The actors selected for the villagers have the most interesting faces and bodies imaginable and the exuberance of their acting is infectious. The reference to the history of the town (often tying in to old movies) is photographed like scratchy old film, and the active story itself is in rapturously beautiful color. The film's story is basically voice over (in Russian), except for Aya's protestations. This is a fable, a fairytale, and a pure escapist delight of a film. It would be difficult not to fall under its spell. Grady Harp, August 10

***1/2

Reportedly based on a true story (though with quite a bit of legendary embellishment, one assumes, at least in its more fantastical elements), "Absurdistan" takes place in a remote village where the women wage a full-fledged battle-of-the-sexes, agreeing to withhold their conjugal duties until the men in the community repair the pipe that for decades has brought water to the town. The story also features Tamelko (Max Mauff) and Aya (Kristyna Malerova) as two teenagers whose own plans to finally consummate their relationship must now be put on hold.

Homespun in appearance and humanistic in tone, "Absurdistan" (a German film done in Russian) is highly reminiscent of those quirky Czech comedies that enjoyed such popularity here in the States back in the 1960s. The scenes set in the past have been deliberately designed to look like aging home movies - grainy, washed-out, and scratchy - while those set in the present are crisp, clean and bursting with color.

The movie blends small town humor with touches of magic realism and the occasional flight of fancy. There are times, admittedly, when the movie gets a little too silly and cutesy for its own good, but, on the positive side, it never takes itself too seriously or condescends to its characters. The mood is upbeat and the details charming in what amounts to a modern-day (but not TOO modern-day) version of "Lysistrata."

I will take any Veit Helmer (the film's director) vehicle anywhere at anytime.

His "Tuvalu" and his "Absurdistan" bring you to magical places. At times in these remarkable films--perhaps because they are so unique--there are moments of disbelief. They soon pass because--if you are open to his magic--you will believe in his characters and in their worlds fully and forever.

In the Land of "Foreign" Movies -- that place primarily populated by humorous peasants of an ethnic group never precisely defined, whose words are heard mostly in voiceover (the better to dub them into a thousand languages) and who regularly find themselves in whimsical plotlines that eventually reaffirm the essential brotherhood, and unity, of mankind -- there is a district called Absurdistan. It would not do to concern oneself too closely with where, exactly, Absurdistan lies, in this German production filmed in Russian, but it's clearly in "that" part of the world -- away from the audiences for this movie, among the simpler people whom we either look down on for their primitivism or exalt for their simplicity.

There is a small, nameless village, presumably in central Asia (though it could be in Eastern Europe; all we know is that it was in the path of the Mongols), where about a dozen families live far away from everywhere else. The husbands are lazy and lusty, starting each day as if they're going to work but spending most of their time in the tea shop and then coming home at night full of desire; the wives do all of the work but seem to be only very slightly less lusty. The men are, of course, much happier with this arrangement than the women.

In this village, there are only two children -- at least that we ever see -- Aya (Krystyna Malerova) and Temelko (Max Mauff), who were born simultaneously and married at the age of eight. Now, they're in their late teens, and thinking about the first time they will have sex. A fortuneteller determines the precise time when they should enjoy bliss -- it has to do with two astrological constellations appearing in the sky -- and they wait the requisite time, with Temelko going off to "the city" for education, or work, or something (this isn't entirely clear).

But the laziness of the men has extended to the village's water supply -- the water comes via a long pipeline through the nearby mountains, but has not been maintained for years. And the flow of the water to the village's one outlet is now a trickle. The men, of course, will not fix it, since they won't do anything.

And so when Temelko returns, Aya runs from him, and tells him they won't be having any sex until the water is fixed. The other women hear this, think it's a great idea, and make the sex strike general. Soon, the village is divided into two zones, and the lazy men are using their ingenuity to get to the city and its whores, only to be stopped by the guns of the women. (They never even consider the expedient of actually fixing the water pipeline, of course.)

Temelko mopes around for a long time -- the actor Max Mauff has a very mopey face, unfortunately, and there is barely any dialogue in Absurdistan, so he gets even mopier in pantomime -- but eventually does what he has to do. The village is saved, love is restored...and all but one of the men still haven't done a lick of work. Sounds like someone's idea of Utopia!

Absurdistan is charming, but just a bit too deliberately so. There's nothing surprising or unexpected about it -- except perhaps when Aya appears naked on a roof in what I'd been assuming was a Muslim area -- but it runs through its well-worn plot with grace and vigor. The movie does know that all the men but Temelko are useless, but gives it an Easterner's shrug, as if to ask, what can we do about it? It should not be seen with any thought of real gender politics in mind, but will be quite entertaining taken on its own level.

I watched first 15 minutes of this movie and I had to turn the TV off. The movie is boring and the humor in there is ridiculously dull. When picking up this move I was mislead by the subtitle saying that this movie was made in Russia. I like modern Russian cinema and I was expecting to watch some good independent cinematographic work. Though the language of this movie is Russian, Russia has nothing to do with this. This movie was shot in Azerbaijan, by a Geman producer Veit Helmer. I still do not understand why they picked up Russian language for this movie. It does not fit the village and its cultural layout. People in the movie are very weird. This village looks like a central asian rural community full of mentally ill retards. Men are shown as lazy uneducated sexists. They do nothing and the only thing they want is to drink and have sex. Women do all work for men and they only way they can control men is to refuse an intercourse. It's very primitive plot and some scenes are just filthy to watch. My suggestion - do not waste your time.