NetPix: Tulpan

Critics are putting together their year-end lists of the best films of 2009.  One of my personal favorites has popped up on a few lists, namely topping the list by the New York TIMES' Manohla Dargis.  It is probably a movie you've never heard about as it had a very limited release here in the US.  But it is one of the most unusual, bleakly beautiful and cinematically incredible films you will ever see. There is also a scene about halfway through that is the most unbelievable 15 minutes I have ever seen in a movie.  Ever.


The movie is called "Tulpan" and it's a romantic dramedy set in the steppes of Kazakhstan.  OK--I know that one line description is likely setting off alarm bells.  But trust me...this movie takes you to a place you will likely never go in your life and makes it something of an adventure.  Basically, "Tulpan" is a love story at it's heart about a family's attempt to marry it's daughter while raising some very peculiar animals on a wind swept plain.  With a stark realism and a simply told story, this movie is almost documentary-like in its clear-eyed look at a way of life that is hard and hard to describe.  


Currently, "Avatar" is everywhere, promising to take you to a world you've never seen before.  Sure...but it's a world that doesn't exist.  Remarkably, Kazakhstan is an actual place on this planet with real people and a group of animals with more personality than a Pixar barnyard.  The only warning I need to give is that this movie is long and takes a certain amount of patience. It also helps if you have a massive TV to appreciate the film's epic landscape and  gorgeous cinematography.  But I guarantee that if you stick it out, this movie and the people in it will stay with you forever.