The Red Poppies of Issyk-Kul
Alye maki Issyk-Kulya
Somewhere in Kyrgyzstan in the 1920s, the pro-Soviet guard Karabalta (‘Black Axe’) detects secret paths in the mountains used by smugglers to transport opium across the Soviet border.
Meanwhile, a strange man named ‘Golden Mouth’ offers to accompany a patrol unit led by the Russian commander Kondraty, promising to help find these smugglers and their camp. A mission to find the opium cache is complicated by kidnappers and other disasters.
Bolotbek Shamshiev’s thriller has a plot that follows the basic formula of the Red Western: a larger-than-life Bolshevik Superman fights a violent native gang operating under the leadership of a cunning and ruthless criminal patriarch. In The Red Poppies of Issyk-Kul, an ascetic, quiet Superman – as usual – embodies the film’s positive moral core. The film is distinguished by superb camera work, praising the beauty of Kyrgyzstan’s wild nature in lavish widescreen images.
Film details
- Country of production
- USSR
- Year
- 1972
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2011
- Length
- 99"
- Medium/Format
- 35mm
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