OH BOY without Berlin. FRANCES HA without the dreams of being a prima ballerina. INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS without the passion for music. The alter ego of Nariman Turebayev? Maybe. In his second feature film the Kazakhstani director gives us a young man who roams forlornly through the streets of Almaty in eastern Kazakhstan. The story develops at the same pace as the knocks on his door: knock, knock – his landlady wants the rent and threatens to throw him out – knock, knock – the woman from the employment agency would rather use her charms on him than help him find a job – knock, knock – his best friend can’t help him, instead he needs the money to buy a new coat for his wife. What can the protagonist do during this dreary winter but to wait for sunnier days to come. The lucky ones live abroad: His mother in Berlin can’t be reached. The waitress from his local pub won a green card, and the wealthy business traveller found his fortune away from home, in Moscow. However, there is a glimmer of hope that appears in the form of the bright blue eyes of a puppet he urinates on in the snow. Or when the 25-year old tries his luck as private chauffeur and drives the Muscovite to a desert canyon. Gazing together at the eroded landscape they make a toast to its beauty.
One has the feeling this is Turebayev’s motto. His images are aesthetically well balanced and presented in striking pastel shades. He is skilful at presenting his protagonists in a particular light and in developing likeable supporting characters who save the film from complete moroseness: Be it the keen piano-playing neighbour, who invites the main protagonist over for tea, or the young woman working at the corner store who obviously has a crush on the young man. The film inspires curiosity about Kazakhstan and the tragicomic people living there.

Raphaël Rück

Translation: Carla McDougall