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Khadak (2006) - Mongilian magical realism
Apr. 11th, 2015 09:03 pmA very good movie that didn't get the respect it deserved, probably because most reviewers were too bound by realism and materialism to understand it.
In Communist Mongolia in (judging by the cars) the 1950's or early 60's, Bagi lives in a yurt with his mother and grandfather, herding sheep. He has very keen hearing, which lets him find lost members of his flock. We are also told he has inherited a spiritual destiny from his ancestors. One winter day, while attempting to locate a lost sheep, Bagi's soul becomes detached from his body. His body lies convulsing in the snow on a treeless steppe next to the lost sheep and his faithful horse, while his spirit wanders lost in a snowy steppe that has trees in it. ( spoilers abound )
And here is where almost all the reviews I looked at lost any ability to understand the movie, and instead declared it "muddled" (NYT) and nonsensical (SFgate). They bought the doctor's diagnosis, and, having adopted a "rational" explanation for what is going on, were utterly unable to understand the mystical goings on in the final third of the movie, in which Baghi's visions mix and mingle with the "real world."
Baghi realizes that the plague was a lie and their animals are still alive somewhere. He learns where they are stored. Somehow that knowledge moves from the spirit world to the real world, and Zolzaya leads a raid to liberate the animals. Then the real world begins to operate by spirit world logic, so Zolzaya and her compatriots can paralyze the guards with the reflections from broken bits of mirror, and as the animals leave the warehouse where they were being held, sacred blue scarves rain from the sky so that the raiders can tie the scarves around the necks of their freed animals.
I know I missed a great deal of import in this film due to not being familiar with the culture. The complete and blessed lack of any exposition at all (minutes pass with hardly any dialogue whatsoever, this is a film of few words) obviously left most reviewers confused and drifting, but it left me deeply engaged and working hard to sort out what was going on. I see I haven't talked at all about the most significant character in the film, the magnificent, awe-inspiring, and eerie landscape of the Mongolian steppes in winter (the entire film happens in the dead of winter), and the haunting soundtrack that accompanies it.
All in all, a stunningly beautiful, thought provoking film whose ending manages to be both downbeat and upbeat at the same time, highly recommended.
In Communist Mongolia in (judging by the cars) the 1950's or early 60's, Bagi lives in a yurt with his mother and grandfather, herding sheep. He has very keen hearing, which lets him find lost members of his flock. We are also told he has inherited a spiritual destiny from his ancestors. One winter day, while attempting to locate a lost sheep, Bagi's soul becomes detached from his body. His body lies convulsing in the snow on a treeless steppe next to the lost sheep and his faithful horse, while his spirit wanders lost in a snowy steppe that has trees in it. ( spoilers abound )
And here is where almost all the reviews I looked at lost any ability to understand the movie, and instead declared it "muddled" (NYT) and nonsensical (SFgate). They bought the doctor's diagnosis, and, having adopted a "rational" explanation for what is going on, were utterly unable to understand the mystical goings on in the final third of the movie, in which Baghi's visions mix and mingle with the "real world."
Baghi realizes that the plague was a lie and their animals are still alive somewhere. He learns where they are stored. Somehow that knowledge moves from the spirit world to the real world, and Zolzaya leads a raid to liberate the animals. Then the real world begins to operate by spirit world logic, so Zolzaya and her compatriots can paralyze the guards with the reflections from broken bits of mirror, and as the animals leave the warehouse where they were being held, sacred blue scarves rain from the sky so that the raiders can tie the scarves around the necks of their freed animals.
I know I missed a great deal of import in this film due to not being familiar with the culture. The complete and blessed lack of any exposition at all (minutes pass with hardly any dialogue whatsoever, this is a film of few words) obviously left most reviewers confused and drifting, but it left me deeply engaged and working hard to sort out what was going on. I see I haven't talked at all about the most significant character in the film, the magnificent, awe-inspiring, and eerie landscape of the Mongolian steppes in winter (the entire film happens in the dead of winter), and the haunting soundtrack that accompanies it.
All in all, a stunningly beautiful, thought provoking film whose ending manages to be both downbeat and upbeat at the same time, highly recommended.
