Product Details

• Actors: Batzul Khayankhyarvaa, Tsetsegee Byamba, Damchaa Banzar, Tserendarizav Dashnyam, Dugarsuren Dagvadorj
• Directors: Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: LIFESIZE ENT.
• DVD Release Date: March 4, 2008
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0010S6ERY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,500 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

KHADAK - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "I Left my Body In A Dark Corner ~ The Future Is Only Possiblity", June 15, 2008

By 

Brian E. Erland "Rainbow Sphinx" (Brea, CA - USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Khadak (DVD)

Note: Contrary to the "Product Details" information this DVD is presented in Mongolian with English subtitles.

If there was ever a film that successfully captured the essence of the shamanic spirit this is the film. Released in '06, the Belgian production `Khadak' (meaning: The Color of Water) transports the audience not only to the remote, barren world of the Mongolian steppes but into an interior, archaic landscape accessed only through the ancient, shamanic practices of the traditional pastoral people of that region.

Unfortunately this is not a film that will attract a large, appreciative audience. Unless you have a working knowledge of the core elements of the shamanic worldview you will have a difficult time following the storyline.

Things you need to be familiar with if you're to fully enjoy this film:

- Spirit of Place
- Ancestral dreaming
- Shamanic drumming
- Out-of-body travel
- Soul retrieval

Also required are an understanding of viable `Doorways to the Otherworld' that allow a shaman to travel to other planes of existence such as a hole in the earth, or a body of water. Not to leave out the most important of all, the World Tree or `Axis Mundi' is a central figure in this film and to miss its meaning is to misunderstand the central message of the film.

Having said all that I would also challenge those unfamiliar with the archaic spiritual dimension to give `Khadak' a try anyway. There are several more accessible storylines you might enjoy such as the political ramifications of uprooting the old ways with forced modernity as well as a bittersweet romance between the young shaman Bagi (Batzul Khayanhyarvaa) and the beautiful Zolzaya (Tsetsegee Byamba).

Beyond the storyline `Khadak' is a visual gem complimented by a wonderfully melancholy and haunting soundtrack filled with pathos and urgency that will pull the audience further into the films mystical landscape.

Postscript: I couldn't end my review without mentioning Tserendarizav Dashnyam who played the old shamaness instructing young Bagi in the ancient ways. She was perfect for the role!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Surreal Dreamwork from Mongolia, March 28, 2008

By 

Cineteca Pilipinas (Lapu Lapu, Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Khadak (DVD)

A totally arbitrary choice of rental...but, oh, what a find. If you like a straightforward story, without confusion or ambiguity, then avoid this film. If you're a foreign film addict, love Tarkovsky and Bergman...then this is a jewel. Set to a beautiful Kronos-quartet style score, this film takes place during the winter in Mongolia. Under the false auspices (spoiler) of an animal pandemic, a group of nomads are forced out of their homes (urts) and nomadic life in order to work as coal miners. A young, nomadic shaman attempts to change the status quo. Buy Kurosawa's "Dersu Uzala" for a great companion piece.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars authentic shamanism in ruptured culture, April 13, 2008

By 

Lesley Thomas (the ether) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Khadak (DVD)

This film is beautiful, mystical, sad, mysterious, and a real find for film buffs. One of the blurbs says "Fellini-esque" and I agree.
It is worth it for scenes of the Mongolian landscape alone. It is also a treasure for any serious scholar of shamanism, or the effects of forced assimilation from earth based ways to slave wage labor, sedentary life in high rise apartments, and the devastation of ecosystem, spirituality and community on nomadic/indigenous societies that we see all over the world from Mongolia to Congo to Australia to the Arctic. I love the hopeful ending, as the stunned people learn to resist. Another thing I love about this film it is made by the people themselves: Mongolians.
I agree with the prior review: see Dersu Uzala as a companion film, and also the Inuit The Fast Runner - DVD, the AboriginalTen Canoes and At Play in the Fields of the Lord.
~ Lesley Thomas, author of arctic shaman novel Flight of the Goose