Cannes, Un Certain Regard
Polished, funny and utterly charming, Kazakhstan director Sergey Dvortsevoy's first feature film, "Tulpan", which won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at the Festival de Cannes, tells of a family not only surviving but also relishing the harsh life of sheep- and goat-herders on a barren landscape.
Set on the bleak and windswept Hunger Steppe in southern Kazakhstan, 500 kilometers from the nearest city, it's about a nomadic peasant existence that demands hard work from everyone with pleasures few and far between. The film's universal story of conflict between generations and the way little eccentricities make life bearable will please audiences everywhere. "Tulpan" will thrive at festivals and art-houses and its accessible humor may lead the way to mainstream exposure.
Key to the movie's enjoyment is the unforced comedy that Dvortsevoy draws from the everyday activities of the family led by stern but loving shepherd Ondas (Ondasyn Beskikbasov), who tends his flock with the same care and attention he gives to his wife Samal (Samal Yeslyamova) and their little ones.
Ondas is worried because his lambs are arriving stillborn and it doesn't help that his main helper, Asa (Askhat Kuchinchirekov), Samal's brother, shows no signs of developing the skills and commitment required of a shepherd.
Asa wants his own herd but Ondas insists that he first take a wife. As a result, the boy is desperately wooing a neighboring shepherd's daughter whose name is Tulpan and who is said to be very beautiful but is never seen.
The film follows Asa's attempts, aided by madcap pal Boni (Tulepbergen Baisakalov), to convince Tulpan's parents that he is a good catch and his determination to show Ondas that he can make a good shepherd. His ability is tested when he finds himself alone in the desert with a stricken pregnant sheep badly in need of help.
The screenplay, written by Dvortsevoy and Gennady Ostrovskiy, is filled with delightful moments showing the children at play, the tactile affection of the parents, the dauntingly punishing work, and the impossible dreams of the young men. The acting is sublime and cinematographer Jola Dylewska captures the bleak terrain in all its unforgiving glory.
CAST: Askhat Kuchinchirekov, Samal Yeslyamova, Ondasyn Besiskbasov, Tulepbergen Baisakalov. DIRECTOR: Sergey Dvortsevoy. SCREENWRITERS: Sergey Dvortsevoy, Gennady Ostrovskiy. PRODUCER: Karl Baumgartner. DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Jola Dylewska. PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Roger Martin. EDITORS: Isabel Meier, Petar Markovic. SALES AGENT: The Match Factory. No MPAA rating, running time 100 mins.
Polished, funny and utterly charming, Kazakhstan director Sergey Dvortsevoy's first feature film, "Tulpan", which won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at the Festival de Cannes, tells of a family not only surviving but also relishing the harsh life of sheep- and goat-herders on a barren landscape.
Set on the bleak and windswept Hunger Steppe in southern Kazakhstan, 500 kilometers from the nearest city, it's about a nomadic peasant existence that demands hard work from everyone with pleasures few and far between. The film's universal story of conflict between generations and the way little eccentricities make life bearable will please audiences everywhere. "Tulpan" will thrive at festivals and art-houses and its accessible humor may lead the way to mainstream exposure.
Key to the movie's enjoyment is the unforced comedy that Dvortsevoy draws from the everyday activities of the family led by stern but loving shepherd Ondas (Ondasyn Beskikbasov), who tends his flock with the same care and attention he gives to his wife Samal (Samal Yeslyamova) and their little ones.
Ondas is worried because his lambs are arriving stillborn and it doesn't help that his main helper, Asa (Askhat Kuchinchirekov), Samal's brother, shows no signs of developing the skills and commitment required of a shepherd.
Asa wants his own herd but Ondas insists that he first take a wife. As a result, the boy is desperately wooing a neighboring shepherd's daughter whose name is Tulpan and who is said to be very beautiful but is never seen.
The film follows Asa's attempts, aided by madcap pal Boni (Tulepbergen Baisakalov), to convince Tulpan's parents that he is a good catch and his determination to show Ondas that he can make a good shepherd. His ability is tested when he finds himself alone in the desert with a stricken pregnant sheep badly in need of help.
The screenplay, written by Dvortsevoy and Gennady Ostrovskiy, is filled with delightful moments showing the children at play, the tactile affection of the parents, the dauntingly punishing work, and the impossible dreams of the young men. The acting is sublime and cinematographer Jola Dylewska captures the bleak terrain in all its unforgiving glory.
CAST: Askhat Kuchinchirekov, Samal Yeslyamova, Ondasyn Besiskbasov, Tulepbergen Baisakalov. DIRECTOR: Sergey Dvortsevoy. SCREENWRITERS: Sergey Dvortsevoy, Gennady Ostrovskiy. PRODUCER: Karl Baumgartner. DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Jola Dylewska. PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Roger Martin. EDITORS: Isabel Meier, Petar Markovic. SALES AGENT: The Match Factory. No MPAA rating, running time 100 mins.
- 5/27/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sundance Film Festival
PARK CITY -- Jaycee Chan, the son of Jackie Chan, might turn out to be a chip off the old block. In The Drummer, he doesn't try to imitate his father's martial arts moves but demonstrates plenty of movie star charisma in his own right.
It's fitting that the film is in part a story about a rebellious young man trying to carve out his own identity in the shadow of an overbearing father. This Sundance premiere, competing in the world cinema dramatic section, might not have the art film cachet of other movies in the category, but it's a most entertaining ride with audience appeal well beyond the festival circuit.
Sid (Chan) is the hedonistic playboy son of Kwan (veteran actor Tony Leung Ka Fai), a Hong Kong crime boss. With cheeky insolence, Sid seduces the mistress of his father's gangland rival, Stephen Ma (Kenneth Tsang). Stephen is furious and demands that the boy be punished. To get him out of harm's way, Kwan ships Sid to a remote mountainous region of Taiwan. There, Sid encounters a group of Zen drummers and decides to join their troupe. He undergoes a spiritual and romantic awakening (courtesy of a fellow drummer, played by the fetching Lee Sinje), though of course he eventually will have to return to Hong Kong and settle scores with the criminals.
The film is an odd hybrid of violent action picture and earnest spiritual odyssey, but somehow it all works. This is partly because of the skill of writer-director Kenneth Bi, who brings ferocious energy to the action scenes and sensitivity to the interactions of the drummers, played by U Theatre, a well-known group of Taiwan artists. Scenes in which the Zen masters discipline the headstrong Sid have considerable charm. The script has enough twists and turns to keep us engaged, and the casting is superb.
It's hard to imagine the film without Chan in the lead. A bundle of energy and youthful impudence, he has a face that the camera loves, and he manages to be equally convincing in his gangster and tranquil Zen modes. Leung brings the right sense of danger to his role, and there are strong supporting turns by Sinje, Josie Ho as Sid's feisty sister and Roy Cheung as a solicitous bodyguard who is not quite what he appears to be.
Besides the great cast, the film boasts first-rate technical credits. Sam Koa's photography of the Taiwanese countryside is spectacular, and the urban scenes are sharply edited by Bi and Isabel Meier. The musical interludes also register effectively. You don't have to take the movie's spiritual message seriously to enjoy Drummer. This is a true guilty pleasure that will tickle audiences all over the world.
THE DRUMMER
Emperor Motion Pictures (Hong Kong)
Kenbiroli Films, Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Kenneth Bi
Producers: Rosa Li, Peggy Chiao, Thanassis Karathanos
Executive producers: Albert Yeung, William Fu
Director of photography: Sam Koa
Production designer: Alex Mok Siu Chung
Music: Andre Matthias
Co-producer: Albert Lee
Costume designer: Cindy Cheung
Editors: Isabel Meier, Kenneth Bi
Cast:
Sid: Jaycee Chan
Kwan: Tony Leung Ka Fai
Hong Dou: Lee Sinje
Ah Chiu: Roy Cheung
Sina: Josie Ho
Stephen Ma: Kenneth Tsang
Lan Jie: Liu Ruo-Yu
Running time -- 116 minutes
No MPAA rating...
PARK CITY -- Jaycee Chan, the son of Jackie Chan, might turn out to be a chip off the old block. In The Drummer, he doesn't try to imitate his father's martial arts moves but demonstrates plenty of movie star charisma in his own right.
It's fitting that the film is in part a story about a rebellious young man trying to carve out his own identity in the shadow of an overbearing father. This Sundance premiere, competing in the world cinema dramatic section, might not have the art film cachet of other movies in the category, but it's a most entertaining ride with audience appeal well beyond the festival circuit.
Sid (Chan) is the hedonistic playboy son of Kwan (veteran actor Tony Leung Ka Fai), a Hong Kong crime boss. With cheeky insolence, Sid seduces the mistress of his father's gangland rival, Stephen Ma (Kenneth Tsang). Stephen is furious and demands that the boy be punished. To get him out of harm's way, Kwan ships Sid to a remote mountainous region of Taiwan. There, Sid encounters a group of Zen drummers and decides to join their troupe. He undergoes a spiritual and romantic awakening (courtesy of a fellow drummer, played by the fetching Lee Sinje), though of course he eventually will have to return to Hong Kong and settle scores with the criminals.
The film is an odd hybrid of violent action picture and earnest spiritual odyssey, but somehow it all works. This is partly because of the skill of writer-director Kenneth Bi, who brings ferocious energy to the action scenes and sensitivity to the interactions of the drummers, played by U Theatre, a well-known group of Taiwan artists. Scenes in which the Zen masters discipline the headstrong Sid have considerable charm. The script has enough twists and turns to keep us engaged, and the casting is superb.
It's hard to imagine the film without Chan in the lead. A bundle of energy and youthful impudence, he has a face that the camera loves, and he manages to be equally convincing in his gangster and tranquil Zen modes. Leung brings the right sense of danger to his role, and there are strong supporting turns by Sinje, Josie Ho as Sid's feisty sister and Roy Cheung as a solicitous bodyguard who is not quite what he appears to be.
Besides the great cast, the film boasts first-rate technical credits. Sam Koa's photography of the Taiwanese countryside is spectacular, and the urban scenes are sharply edited by Bi and Isabel Meier. The musical interludes also register effectively. You don't have to take the movie's spiritual message seriously to enjoy Drummer. This is a true guilty pleasure that will tickle audiences all over the world.
THE DRUMMER
Emperor Motion Pictures (Hong Kong)
Kenbiroli Films, Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Kenneth Bi
Producers: Rosa Li, Peggy Chiao, Thanassis Karathanos
Executive producers: Albert Yeung, William Fu
Director of photography: Sam Koa
Production designer: Alex Mok Siu Chung
Music: Andre Matthias
Co-producer: Albert Lee
Costume designer: Cindy Cheung
Editors: Isabel Meier, Kenneth Bi
Cast:
Sid: Jaycee Chan
Kwan: Tony Leung Ka Fai
Hong Dou: Lee Sinje
Ah Chiu: Roy Cheung
Sina: Josie Ho
Stephen Ma: Kenneth Tsang
Lan Jie: Liu Ruo-Yu
Running time -- 116 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/22/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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