Chouga is a relationship drama inspired by Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, set in contemporary Kazakhstan. It offers its audience not only a look into everyday life of the Kazakh nouveau riche, but also a view of the streets of the new and fast-developing capital, Astana.
Shuga (an excellent Aïnur Turganbaeva) has been asked to come to Almata as a troubleshooter for her brother’s marriage in crisis. She herself is safely married to a rich businessman with whom she has a son. Her arrival at Almaty though means an unexpected meeting with the young and handsome Ablai. This meeting leads to an unexpected turn in her life. Meanwhile, the life of Ablai’s fiancée follows its own path. When the troubles of Shuga’s brother settle down and Shuga returns home in Astana, she finds herself caught in an existential dilemma. She decides to leave her husband as Anna Karenina did, and later finds herself in similar doubts. Life becomes complicated on all fronts.
The atmosphere throughout the film succeeds in joining the ideas of the classic novel in the changed society of Kazakhstan. The New Kazakh Way master Omirbaev continues to make films with his minimalist film language, where every small movement bears a meaning and each simple shot is rich with atmosphere. (LC)
Film details
- Countries of production
- France, Kazakhstan
- Year
- 2007
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2008
- Length
- 88"
- Medium/Format
- 35mm
You may also like this
-
Zimbabwe
Painful and topical drama about illegal labour migration from Zimbabwe to South Africa. Seen through the eyes of a 19-year-old orphan girl, Roodt s
-
Junk Films: The Collected Short Shockumentaries of Tsurisaki Kiyotaka
Without wanting to scare anyone off, a warning is not out of place with this film. Tsurisaki is a photographer and filmmaker who has specialised in
-
The Golden Age of Fish
The film maker follows a black geologist through Cleveland, Ohio. But his real theme in this poetic documentary – yes, apparently documentari