A raw Kyrgyz gangster-movie-with-a-heart makes waves in Kazakstahn thanks to a Russian translation.
Police and thieves on the street
Oh, yeah
Scaring the nation with their
Guns and ammunition. Junior Murvin (song)
To date the only modern cultural association that I could make with Kyrgyzstan was the charming pop band Gorod 312. I doubt that I am alone in knowing very little of Kyrgyz cinema. That which comes to the attention of the world’s stage tends to be the kind that pleases the niche viewership of cineastes who like films from this part of the world to be contemplations on village life and so on.
Against this background, the emergence of RAZBOI (Robbery) this year represents a refreshing green shoot – not so much in Kyrgyz cinema but in its acceptance outside of its own country.
This film is urban and concerns the here-and-now and can speak to anyone from any culture.
A movie with a 50,000-dollar budget, RAZBOI however, has not penetrated the art house cinemas of New York, London or Paris yet, but, thanks to the ongoing lingua franca which is Russian it has begun wowing a new audience in Kazakhstan.
The film has been gracing Kazakh cinemas since 19th January of this year and the director of Kinopoisk and Kinoplex cinemas (who are responsible for the screenings) Yurlan Bukhurbaev told Mail KZ (February), after noting that the showings drew good crowds, that ` a certain excitement has developed around the film. `
Made in Bishkek.
After being shot in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, RAZBOI then got professionally dubbed into Russian in a studio in Moscow. Running for 84 minutes and released with no age certificate, it is very much not a `family movie`.
The stark title says it all: this is a `criminal drama` just as advertised, having something in common with both the gangster and heist subgenres, as well as the `police procedural`. The creators claim a genuine news story from Bishkek as their starting point.
The directors are the 48-year-old Maksat Zhumaev, who hails from Naryn in Kyrgyzstan and Azamat Ismailov, both quite new to the game. Likewise, many of the players seem to be new faces – at least outside of their home country. Atai Omurbekov starred in Empty House (2012) a bleak social realist fable (which I have seen) about a young woman’s attempt to escape from the poverty of her milieu. I have drawn a blank on the other names, but they include: Adyl Bolorbekuulu, Zhyldyzbek Kaseyinov, Bek Bostonbaev and Uchkun Absalamov.
Armed greed.
One late winter in Bishkek an assortment of five ruthless outlaws are busy committing a string of robberies throughout the city. Their modus operandi is as simple as it is bold. They intercept vehicles transporting hard cash from bank to bank and take off with the loot. These mercenaries are also cold-blooded killers who show no scruples about gunning down whoever should stand in their way. Life is cheap for them.
Meanwhile, a police task force is not quite hot on their heals and indeed, seems to be outwitted by their quarry. The relationship between the cops and robbers is one of a kind of Cold War. Espionage even plays a part in the proceedings with an attractive young police officer in plainclothes used to elicit the phone number of one member of the gang so that he may be tracked and a street cleaner who is an undercover cop.
In this `man’s world` of phone calls and car trips, both sides have to contend with issues. With the robbers there is the question of trust: who of their posse can really be relied upon? The police have girlfriend and wife problems, with their lovers feeling abandoned as the twenty-four-seven demands of the hunt take its toll.
The stakes are high and the contemptuous killing of one of the law enforcement brethren during a stake out forms the centerpiece of this film. We get to see a dignified police funeral juxtaposed with the man’s would-be fiancé in the process of marrying a rival suitor.
Of course, the men in uniform will vanquish the baddies, but will pay a heavy price in so doing….
Tragic realism.
Despite some tense, indeed harrowing, sequences RAZBOI is no action movie. The narrative is more of an unheroic slice-of-life one. Enough screen time is devoted to the criminals to get across the fact that they are all too human. We even get a hint as to their motivation: we see one of their number, on the pretext of going out to buy groceries, call on his ailing mother in a rundown country bungalow.
In fact, it is only the violence instigated by the gangsters – shown in an unvarnished but not gratuitous way -that identifies them as obvious wrongdoers.
The film showcases some explosive acting and this is supported by a classical-electronic score that plays throughout all of the film (the exception being the police funeral which makes use of Kyrgyz rap to good effect).
RAZBOI climaxes in a way reminiscent of a Jacobean revenge-tragedy with needless slaughter all round. The consequences of violent crime are brought home and the trigger-happy bling-centered lifestyle of the gangsters is far from glamourised. The film is not cynical though: the end credits name check an actual policeman – Marat – who lost his life in the real life crime case which inspired this film.
Flagship success.
In the same interview quoted in Mail KZ Mr. Bukharbaev went onto to say:
`This is an example of the fact that huge budgets and state support are not always needed to realise a hit production. `
Indeed, the 75% full cinema that I attended on February 3rd was quite new to me. I also noted that the audience was not quite what I might have expected. I had envisioned this as being a film for youngish men – yet behind me sat a row of chic unaccompanied Kazakh ladies.
Lead image: Instagram.