Customer Reviews

Tulpan (Subtitled)

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Asa is a young Kazakh who, having completed his military service, wants to return home and become a sheep farmer. The problem is he must first be married and the only eligible woman within many miles, the shy and elusive Tulpan, is just not interested.

Celebrated Kazakh documentary filmmaker Sergey Dvorsevoy won the Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes for this, his first dramatic feature. Astonishing in its simplicity and for its intimate depiction of rural life, the film is also surprisingly funny - a simple humor that is far removed from that of the more popular but utterly false portrayal of Kazakhstan in Borat.

The performances, mostly by individuals who had never acted before, are astonishingly genuine. It's hard to believe they are playing a role, and that this is not a documentary. Even more stunning is the authenticity of the scenes. There is, obviously, no CGI here, and nothing is fake, but through patience Dvortsevoy was able to capture some surprising and exciting moments - a twister that appears suddenly in the midst of a confrontation between two characters, an angry camel mother attacking the vet who cares for her son, a sheep giving birth and a genuine performance of Asa's surprise and wonder and helplessness, all in a single take without cuts. Lovers of great films should celebrate this deceptively simple and lovely film.

Dense with the realism and light humor of daily existence, Tulpan at times has the feel of a documentary, yet it is a touching fictional tale about finding one's place in the world.

Asa returns from naval service and has expansive dreams of a free and prosperous life on the Kazakh steppe. For them to come true, his brother-in-law must give him a starter herd, he must find a wife in a desert devoid of humans, and he must earn his stripes as a herder. Asa is impatient, does not fit in, and seems powerless to realize his dreams. When he is pushed to the brink, ready to give up on his dream, he has a transforming experience of life and rebirth. (As reviewed in Russian Life)

Dvortsevoy films with a patient eye (Tulpan took four years to film), turning the gritty landscape into a character in the film, helping to convey the utter isolation (but not hopelessness) of life on the barren steppe. This is a quixotic and delightful tale of self-discovery that offers a vivid look at what life is like in this secluded corner of the world.

Sparse, dry, bleak, and alien, describes the location for this film. The words also describe the way Tulpan was filmed - long slow deliberate shots. The film is about a land and people completely foreign from any experience we could even imagine in North America, the steppes of Kazakhstan. The contrast to this harsh environment is a film about Asa who dreams of a different life; his sister Samal who dreams of moving to a different place; and her husband the hard working realist. How these people eek out a life in that arid desolate land is nothing short of incredible.

The film opens with the sounds of fabric blowing in the wind, a heard of camels moves off camera, the dusts settles and the barren landscape is revealed; in the foreground, a post-apocalypse tractor that looks straight out of Road Warrior, and a Yurt in the background. The film cuts to inside of the Yurt. Asa is trying to convince Tulpan's parents that he is the right husband for their daughter. He's supported by his friend, Boni (Mr. Gold Teeth with the big smile), and his brother in law Ondas. The story unfolds very slowly, much like life in this arid land. Asa is an immature dreamer faced with the difficulties of living with his sister, her three children, and her husband. Odan the husband is a sheep farmer faced with the harsh reality of still born sheep. Samal, the sister, wife, and mother wants to move to another location; but is always happy, always caring for those around her. I particularly loved Samal's 2 year old son - there is something universal about children getting in the way and being adorable.

Tulpan reminds me of Himalaya, both films show an incredibly difficult life in an area we can never imagine. Both feel a bit like documentaries, but they are works of fiction and acted. Himilaya has a more exciting back story, but both films are stark. I was also struck by the length of time between cuts, Tulpan is not choreographed as well (the camera movement in Tulpan not as deliberate and poetic), but does have a similar slow long cut rhythm like, The Country Teacher. It is the polar opposite of the funny but fake Borat.

The film has a dry gritty feel to it. I could almost taste the sand in my mouth, feel the cold, and smell the death of the animals. The director has done a remarkable job at conveying those feelings. And yet there was a warmth to the film, Asa's innocence, Samal's caring, and Odan's tough love. Technically the film was done very well for what appears to be a single camera film. Shots are reasonably in focus, exposure in horribly difficult situations is excellent, the ambient sound of wind and animals is well recorded, and the pacing is as expected, very slow. Overall, a wonderful accomplishment.

The film is not rated. Younger viewers could possibly watch this film. There is no violence. However, this is a movie about real life of a sheep herder; life on a farm can be a bit brutal at times. Several lambs are shown still born and dead. There is a fairly graphic birthing of a lamb. And sheep are shown copulating. Nothing in the world unnatural about any of these acts, parents just might like to know. Boni has pictures of naked women decorating his tractor and there is a brief shot of a Playboyesque picture full screen. I don't exactly recall stong language in the subtitles, but there might have been a little bit. Overall, this is a film that a mature young adult would be able to watch.

The DVD is as sparse as the landscape; it is presented with the movie and the trailer. There are no bonus features. The film is presented in Russian or the nomadic language they speak, with English subtitles. Here is a film where I would have liked to know a bit more about the making of and the actors in this film. That unfortunate time where we get hours of garbage about the Wedding Crashers on a DVD, but when it would be useful there's nothing.

To give the film a bit of context, I entered Betpak-Dala Steppe (the filming location) into google maps. Looking at the satellite view it is clear that this area is horribly desolate, there is nothing but flat land for hundreds of miles. The nearest road appears to be 50 to 100 miles away. The people of this film are truly nomads.

I loved this film. It is a beautifully made and beautifully acted movie. The pace is slow, and the story is very simple. It is a lovely hour and forty minutes.

It has been quite a while since a film affected me as powerfully as Tulpan. It sort of seeps under your skin and makes you reflect about it, like chewing cud, or something. It is extremely naturalistic, with a rich density whose lyrical simplicity is drawn out through many special little moments and situations. These little scenes were like pearls on a string. Each one reveals so much about the character of the individuals involved, and the relationships between them. In the end, the sense of the ties that bind, and the sense of place and the strength of family life trump wanderlust. It is difficult to speak about this film in generalities. It would be easy to say it is about a young man in a lonely place who is dreaming of getting a beautiful wife, and a flock of sheep of his own, and his own yurt, and his own children--but that is only part of what it is about. Other than a few technological tools of the 21 century such as a portable radio and a tractor, the pattern of life is rooted in the situations of the shepherds of the steppes of central Asia since the dawn of animal husbandry. You could show this film to a herdsman from 4000 years ago and they would probably have only a few questions. But the film is so much more than what you can say about the engine that drives the action forward. It's about relationships in a family, it's about quiet desperation, its about death and birth and sickness and hope. And these things are drawn out with a quiet sublimity, as if not much effort or contrivance went into them. How does this happen? I'm not sure you can write these kinds of things in a script. It's too psychologicaly honest and true--it's too emotionally complex. There are just so many choice moments. "Man, I told you this is no cattle wagon!"

Take the father, who when we first see him, is attempting to broker a marriage for his brother-in-law--at first, he doesn't come across as much of a sympathetic fellow--but then, gradually, you see the different dimensions of his character emerge in different situations, and you see the things that are worrying him--frustrating him, and interfering with his needs, and he becomes an understandable and a very sympathetic figure. You understand what motivates him--and you begin to appreciate him. This is true for every character in the film. Even the Veterinarian, who has only a few lines, is a fascinating and complex figure. A film like this demonstrates the ability of film to get at the most difficult human moments that you can capture and communicate to others. It is simply a tremendous achievement. I hope these guys do more projects such as this.

I was very fortunate to be able to see TULPAN at a small movie theatre (rather than DVD) so that I could enjoy it with a few dozen other folks. But it will play just as well on a wide-screen TV (the bigger the better, though)...because it is in many ways a travelogue. A skewed, touching and somewhat haunting one...taking you to a place you know you don't want to go. Seeing it with a group, I felt as though we were on some kind of slow moving tour bus, allowing us to visit the stark land of Kazakhstan. If you saw it alone, no doubt you'd feel like a lone traveler, beating up your car's suspension and working hard to keep your car on track in the wind. TULPAN is the most tiny and intimate of films...yet has almost deliriously expansive panoramas of a land that is as forbidding as any depicted on screen.

Young Asa has recently returned home from his service in the Navy. He comes from a family of hard-scrabble sheep herders on the Steppes of Kazakhstan. He is a vibrant, easy-going and slightly dimwitted young man. His burning desire is to have his own herd, but this will not be granted to him until he marries. There is pretty much only one eligible young lady in his sparsely populated corner of the world, and even though he has never even seen this girl (named Tulpan), because she holds the key to his happiness, he feels he is in love with her. She declines his offer, ostensibly because she doesn't like his big ears. The real reason may be that she wants a life in the city, perhaps with an education. Asa loves the harsh land that has been his only home, and he yearns to own his own way there. You have no doubt that he would treat this girl well and give her a "traditionally happy" life...because he clearly has no malicious bone in his body.

Asa is undaunted in his efforts. While he schemes to win Tulpan's agreement, he lives with his sister and her family, which includes 3 children and an older, grumpy husband. Asa tries to help out on the farm, but he's so eager to please, he can't help but trip over his own feet, so to speak. He fails to endear himself to his brother-in-law, who also urgently wants Asa out of the house.

And that's about it for the plot. I won't kid you; TULPAN is a slow moving film. Very little that we would think of as earth-shattering happens. Yet the movie accomplishes two very rare things, and thus it continues to resonate with me more than a month after I saw it.

First, Asa and his family feel 100% real. They feel NOTHING like most people you and I are ever likely to know...but we immediately understand and empathize with all of them. Whether it's the dutiful sister & wife, who wants only harmony in her family, and clearly loves all the people in her life with great intensity or the pre-teen daughter whose only distraction is to sing to herself...constantly and loudly. Asa himself is all heart and little brain...yet you'd be hard-pressed to find a more decent, open & sincere a person. And none of them feel like actors (they aren't pros)...we actually feel like we're spending time living with these folks. Seeing and EXPERIENCING their everyday lives of tending to their yurt and their sheep.

Second, and perhaps most stunningly, we get a true sense of PLACE. The cinematography is simple yet stunning. Kazakhstan, to my eyes, is a stark place with little obvious beauty. But we get to glimpse it through Asa's eyes from time to time, and are able to see how HOME can be a beautiful place to the person who feels at home there...not matter what everyone else sees and feels. And there are long, lingering shots of the land and the people and animals on it. One stunning scene I will try to describe: the shot involves a still camera, which at first shows us the side of a building, some fencing and mostly a path leading out onto the bleak steppes (the land looks like you'd imagine dust-bowl America to have looked). We hear sounds of approaching animals. Sure enough, sheep move into the picture and off into the distance, followed by dogs, donkeys, men, children, poultry and so on. The camera never moves, and nothing really happens except that the various "life forms" pass by us. Yet we get such a clear understanding of their relationships and importance to each other.

TULPAN has moments of GREAT humor (one scene involving a camel is particularly hilarious) and sometimes touching drama (you've never thought the birth of a lamb could be so dramatic). But I'll say again...it isn't a story where the traditional idea of a plot is all that important. Yes, things happen to Asa, and the issue of Tulpan is resolved. But the real pleasures of TULPAN will come if you simply allow yourself to be immersed in the life the film wants to show you. It's a harsh and alien life...but if ever a movie showed an American audience how much more ALIKE we all are than DIFFERENT...TULPAN is it.

When I started to write this review, I was thinking 4-stars. But as I wrote and remembered...I understood that for me, this film really is 5-stars. Perhaps the most quiet, understated 5-star film I've ever reviewed...but it is a movie that I think will always come back to me over the years as being not quite like anything else I've ever seen.

Russian director Sergey Dvortsevoy finds touching and absurd facets of the human experience in an unexpected place in "Tulpan", one young man's frustrating season on the Kazakh steppe. Asa (Askhat Kuchinchirekov) has moved in with his sister Samal's (Samal Yeslyamora) family after a tour in the Russian Navy. Samal, her husband Ondas (Ondasym Besikbasov), and their three children are sheep farmers who live in a yurt on the steppe. Asa dreams of being a sheep farmer too, with a white yurt, a television, and solar-powered electricity. But first he must find a wife. The only eligible woman on the steppe is Tulpan, and she doesn't like him.

I was wary that "Tulpan" might condescend to people who live pre-modern lifestyles. I was relieved that it doesn't. We see the lure of city life for people who live on the steppe, but Asa, who has experience of the modern world, just wants to be a herdsman, woo Tulpan, and gain the respect of Ondas. He's an earnest, nice guy. He seems to have attainable goals. But Tulpan's rejection throws a monkey wrench into his plans. Tulpan, the title character, plays only a small role in the film. Asa's difficulties finding a bride keep him with his sister's family a while longer, which creates conflict and opportunity for us to observe them.

While there is nothing patronizing about "Tulpan"'s treatment of these people who live a simple life in the middle of nowhere, without electricity or running water, I got the impression that the film's purpose is partly to observe their way of life. The steppe is a remarkable landscape for its flatness and dust storms. The yurts, sheep, camels, and people are striking against such barrenness. We can't help laugh at the absurdity of their situation sometimes, but it's a gentle absurdity, and "Tulpan" laughs with its characters, certainly not at them. The viewer can easily slip into their skin. In Kazakh with optional English subtitles. The only bonus feature on the Zeitgeist 2009 disc is a theatrical trailer.

So, normally I don't review something with over ten reviews (figuring that you readers already have enough information), but I love this movie, and so I'm going to share anyway! I first watched Tulpan when preparing to go on study abroad to Kazakhstan, and I have to say that I love the movie's characters, and its mixture of humor and realism, along with its reflections on life in Kazakhstan. Below is an extended review that I wrote for a class (I admit it!). There's one spoiler paragraph below that I've marked, but I hope you enjoy the rest and get a good sense of the movie.

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"You didn't impress her," Asa is told after trying to charm Tulpan, a prospective wife living in Kazakhstan's countryside. Having recently worked for the Russian Navy, Asa moves to the steppe in the attempt to make a living as a herder, but must work for Ondas, the short-tempered husband of his sister Samal, until he finds a wife. As dust storms swirl and more and more lambs are stillborn, Asa still nurtures his dreams of becoming a wealthy rancher with Tulpan at his side.

In Tulpan (2008), director Sergei Dvortsevoy paints a picture of the challenges of life on the Kazakh steppe, including recurrent tensions of language, geography, family, and work in Kazakh culture.

Language and cultural difficulties plague Asa. As the film opens, he sits in a yurt, talking to his prospective in-laws about his experiences in the Russian Navy. As he uses Russian to describe how to bite an octopus in the right spot, his audience quickly tires. He returns to herding, which for him means running after and frightening the pregnant ewes in his care, even as his brother-in-law Ondas shouts after him, "Jurme!," or "Don't run!" in Kazakh. The viewer discovers that Asa cannot speak Kazakh, and has no abilities in birthing lambs, watching sheep, or other skills necessary to be a herder. Asa's lack of cultural skill in persuading a bride or knowing how to work hard, as well as his lack of Kazakh language skills necessary to obey Ondas' instructions, lead to continued difficulties in communicating, and reflect wider tensions in Kazakh society involved in communications between urban Russian-speakers and rural Kazakh-speakers.

Asa also has difficulties with marriage: it is required in order for him to gain his own herd, but the one girl in the region, Tulpan (meaning "Tulip"), is not forthcoming. But Asa persists, both in pursuit of Tulpan and of his chosen occupation. He returns to Tulpan's house again, and with his friend Boni pulls out all the stops to convince Tulpan and her family that he would be a good match: he has two arms and legs, and he's a prince, really, just like Prince Charles, but with smaller ears! This comical sketch illustrates the traditional practice of talking to a girl's parents rather than to the girl herself, even as the pictures of Prince Charles show an international sensibility.

Though the film is set in an arid location, the characters have larger connections, on both the national and international scale. Boni and Tulpan both talk about the city as the place to be, and even the littlest boy drives a turtle over the dusty ground like a car going to Almaty, the then-capital of the Kazakh Socialist Republic. In addition to the pictures of Prince Charles, we see Asa and Boni drive in a tractor with pornographic pictures of large-breasted women, and dawdle around reading magazine pictures depicting the high life of girls, motorcycles, and large houses. Modernity in Kazakhstan means the city, but Asa wants to have it all in his return to the countryside.

And yet Asa's big dreams don't seem to fit with anyone else's dreams. Boni, laughing and drunk, thinks Asa is foolish for trying to be a herder, Ondas thinks he can't make it, and Tulpan's parents indicate that she prefers to go to the city and get an education. Asa confronts her through a door, asking "Are you enrolling in college? Which one? Is that your dream? Klassni! [Great!]" But just after this compliment, he shows her the pictures of a yurt, a TV, and a farm that he has drawn on the underside of his sailor scarf -- a representation of his dream of becoming a wealthy herder. And then he tries to talk her out of her dream. The city is dangerous, he suggests, and she need not go to college; she can just take a correspondence course. His dreams center around himself, and in asking her to put her dreams second, this sketch offers an interesting counterpart to the pro-women stories told in Soviet times, in which a woman's career was worth attending to first.

More traditional gender roles are seen in other settings, especially in the increasing fights between Asa and Ondas. Asa is expected to watch the sheep but instead sits dreaming of his future life. He is incompetent in caring for the sheep, and the pregnant ewes continue to wander off and give birth to stillborns. As Ondas is under increasing pressure from the boss not to lose more lambs, he becomes angry at Asa and refuses to let him herd. Asa rankles at being treated as a child. Even after the boss gives them permission to move to better pasture, Ondas and Asa continue to fight. Samal is placed in the middle, trying to soothe over the men's anger at each other, as well as watch and manage the children. Interestingly, no other extended family is depicted, and little contact with neighbors is shown. Given the extensive networks of most families in Kazakhstan, this is a somewhat surprising distortion in the film.

(SPOILER Paragraph!)
The story ends in a somewhat ambiguous way. When Asa learns that Tulpan has left for the city, he intends to follow, giving up his dream of country herding for his dream of Tulpan. He returns in sadness to Ondas and Samal, who are packing up their house to move with the herds. After giving several of his Navy possessions to the children, we see that he has erased his pictures of steppe, farm, and TV from the back of his sailor scarf, and replaced them with a picture of a tulip, representing Tulpan. At the last possible minute, though, he turns around and joins his sister's family on the back of the truck. As a storm comes, they move with the herds.

Although this discussion is told primarily from the perspective of Asa, it reflects on broader tensions between the city and the countryside, between Russian and Kazakh language speakers, and between sticking with relatives and pursuing one's own dream. In a post-socialist era when every person is expected to provide for themselves, we see a narrative centered on isolated families and individuals, torn between sticking together and pursuing their own individual dreams. Asa emerges as an untimely sort of hero for his persistence and optimism. Ultimately, making a living in rural areas seems to necessitate giving up on other dreams and banding together, as we see when Asa, Ondas, and Samal move off into their nomadic life together.

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A post-note: One of my favorite moments in Kazakhstan this summer was when driving down the dusty, tree-lined streets of Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty. When my Kazakh driver flipped on the radio, out blared "On the Rivers of Babylon," the same song used as a recurrent theme in Tulpan! I definitely felt like I had stepped out of the world of urban Asia, and back into the country scenes of Tulpan!

In general, the average American is not fully knowledgeable about Eastern society's contribution towards film. China, Japan, Korea, and Iran have received much praise lately due to their notable efforts in the field of cinema. However, past dependant states of USSR have not had the glowing reception that they deserve, considering that their films have, as of late, usually been among the most distinguished foreign films. Kazakhstan was not wildly known for its entertainment till Borat came along, and changed everything for this country, not necessarily for the best. Though it wasn't a Kazakh film by any means, it garnered enough attention for the country to come under attention for filmgoers. In no way a film that Kazakhstan wants to be remembered by, for in reality it was never about the nation; since its release the country has long tried to distance itself with such absurd and mocking depictions. Many would like to look at Tulpan as a humanizing brutal portrait of the real Kazakhstan. This film may garner Kazakhstan respect in the world of cinema, and shed away the horrible influence of Borat from their culture.

Tulpan is the engaging tale of a discharged sailor, named Asa, who wants to fulfill his living of being a herdsman. To gain the livestock he needs to turn his dream in to reality, he needs to satisfy one condition: marry. This seemingly simple request is more difficult than it seems as single woman are very difficult to find in this hunger Steppe. The one girl he falls in love with and her family find a combination of anatomical and economical issues with him that render his dream to a momentarily halt. In the meantime, he lives with his sister, her much older husband, and her three kids.

The amazing fact about Tulpan is that it does not offer a herdsman's life as it is imagined in contemporary art. These are not strictly austere individuals who demand to be left alone from technology and the modern forms of lifestyle of the West. The film is set in modern times, and offers the "gifts" of western culture, such as motorcycles, cars, radio, and all other assortments that would seem naturally bereft from the Hunger Steppe. It's wildly humorous to watch these men who are occupied in traveling long distances of this nearly barren land, buying and selling food, and in the meantime listening to pop music and hanging snippets of Playboy on their van.

The main issue audiences will have with Tulpan is that with a length of a hundred minutes it says a lot without really saying a lot. This issue is more directed at the Western audience who, generally, are used to conventional Hollywood narratives. This film differs as its narrative sets out to achieve nothing other than presenting these individuals lives, with no attempt at creating an all too familiar fictional world. The film works simply because it presents the lives of these herdsman in a way that their actual counterparts would be proud of; the film is real, brutally honest, and provocative because it presents itself as a documentary without being one. Many critics have been baffled by the conditions of these characters, as esteemed critic Roger Ebert going as far as claiming the film to be "[showing] such an unfamiliar world, it might as well be Mars." Many Western audiences may find the film to be far removed from their civilization and expectations, and find this lifestyle hard to identify with. However, it must be stated that the film is not solely about these men and their exploits, but about their dreams, wishes, and harsh realities. We may not be able to fully identify with some of their actions, such as the brutal sheep birth, but their humanity shines through; humanity that makes these men and women not much different from us, though many of us may live in metropolises that would make the herdsmen's lifestyle seem remarkably simplified. However, I feel as if someone familiar with Eastern Culture, and Eastern film, may not find the conditions of these men as drastic as Ebert felt.

Tulpan's humor is cleverly instituted. The animals of these herdsmen, such as camels and donkeys, offer enough comedy and laughter that it overrides the tension between the human beings. They offer not a moment of comedy, instead shifting that responsibility to the creatures. Only God knows how much time the Director spent in trying to produce such funny squeals and scenarios from these animals. Tulpan does not entertain us, but it show how people live when life is stripped to its bear essentials. Asa's dream is simple: he wants to live the herdsman's life, but live it leisurely, with satisfaction, and without the presence of stress. Humanity cannot be more common in its interest.

If you are looking for a regular genre film, this is not for you. This little gem does not conform to any kind of Hollywood narrative nor to do the actors conform to any accepted standard. Despite this the film is very engrossing as it shows a world that is seldom ever seen in the West. The people , the landscapes are all very distinctive and although the film does not really deliver any kind of "payoff" , so to speak it really is engrossing. Recommended.

Thru out the film, I kept wondering where they got these wonderful actors. Unlike other movies with a similar setting - "The Cave of the Yellow Dog" or the even better "The Story of the Weeping Camel" - this seems to use trained actors. The director, in an interview at the official website for this film, calls them "actors". And they were new to this setting and had to learn to live the life of a sheepherders living in yurts.

However, the director has a special talent with non-actors, too. Many scenes included a young child of about 3 or 4 years old and several animals. The integration of them into the scenes were nothing less than perfect. There's a memorably funny scene with a veterinarian with a motorbike and sidecar - and a baby camel wrapped in bandages - and a large mother camel - that had me wondering how it could possibly have been filmed. I thought that several times, too, during the film.

The plot about the young man returned from a stint in the Russian navy trying to marry the only fair maiden around is actually the B-plot. And it's almost expendable. What turns out to be the A-plot is the young man's effort to prove a competent sheepherder to his stubbornly impatient brother-in-law. Our evesdropping on the life of this family living in a yurt with the camera patiently following the activities of the people was fascinating to me.

The scenes with the free-spirited family friend who has a tractor with a boombox playing loudly and girlie pictures hanging in the cab provided some of the most energetically fun scenes.

My interest flagged occasionally - usually at the marriage attempts - but the rest made the whole film worthwhile. Not as starkly beautiful as "Weeping Camel" or "Yellow Dog", but still striking, with a good story that the writer/director said mostly evolved during the filming, and some fine actors -- human and otherwise.