This is an excellent movie, well worth experiencing. Don't be fooled by its obscurity. This is not a low-budget nor protest flick. It has very high production values and is worthy of the best auteurs. It's just that its distribution didn't connect with the American marketing machine.
The first time I saw it, I was bowled over by the gorgeous visuals, but couldn't follow the narrative, especially in the last half. I got the feeling this was normal, that there wasn't really any narrative except in the magico-realistic sense, that the movie was meant to be viewed impressionistic-ally. Then I absorbed just a bit about the history of Mongolia and Mongolian shamanism at home, and saw it again. The second time the narrative was clear throughout. The gorgeous visuals were still there, but now they weren't the only thing.
One key was understanding that shamanism was heavily discouraged when Mongolia was a Soviet satellite for decades. Another was understanding just a bit about shamanism itself: that the giant blue sky is almost a personality; that poles and clefts and even trees can be entrances to the world below; that shamans are called by their first trance experience, which often manifests as an illness, and trained by the previous generation's shaman; that shamanistic trances and epileptic fits are similar; and most importantly that the highest calling of a shaman is to "restore balance" with nature for an entire people.
More imagery made sense with the understanding that going under water meant death from this world (and perhaps birth into the world of nature). The parallel between a woman traumatized by the relocation to modernity and a peeled potato going under water in a basin became clear.
I never entirely figured out the symbolism of the apples. Maybe they signify Soviet times, or maybe danger, or maybe a turn away from shamanism, or maybe materialism. And are potatoes distorted apples? I never entirely integrated the Christian symbolism. There are clear references to at least Christ, the last supper, the twelve disciples, and the cross. And I never entirely figured out the significance of counting. Although counting works as an adjunct of other symbolism, I suspect it has a meaning of its own.
There are no love scenes in the Western sense (after all, it's far too cold to take off one's clothes). We get only one tentative kiss, a couple ghost embraces, a tiny bit of touching, and a few lines of dialog. Yet the effect is sensuous in the extreme. This is way more with way less. The feelings are intense, yet without skirting an NC-17 or R rating (the movie is actually unrated; it could be PG ...but probably won't appeal to 13 year olds).
Yet all of this is secondary. What really stood out the second time was the importance of hyper-hearing ...abetted by the sound track. Suddenly the scene of the fishes under the ice made sense, as did hearing approaching trucks before they even appeared on the horizon. Ears are touched throughout, and some epileptic fits begin with auditory hallucinations. At one point a medical person comments the protagonist "listens very well". The motions of finding a person buried somewhere in a railroad car full of coal makes sense.
The sound track is very complex. Often rather than just matching the current scene, it contains the first subtle segue to the next. At one point the sounds of water in pipes goes on for so long it can get tuned out. But the sound subtly changes ever so slowly; toward the end one can dimly pick out mixed into all the water sounds another sound, that of sheep bleating.
The sound track is the key to and high point of this movie. It holds the story together. And it's excellent artistry. Yet the first time I completely missed it. Listen and you'll be richly rewarded.
The first time I saw it, I was bowled over by the gorgeous visuals, but couldn't follow the narrative, especially in the last half. I got the feeling this was normal, that there wasn't really any narrative except in the magico-realistic sense, that the movie was meant to be viewed impressionistic-ally. Then I absorbed just a bit about the history of Mongolia and Mongolian shamanism at home, and saw it again. The second time the narrative was clear throughout. The gorgeous visuals were still there, but now they weren't the only thing.
One key was understanding that shamanism was heavily discouraged when Mongolia was a Soviet satellite for decades. Another was understanding just a bit about shamanism itself: that the giant blue sky is almost a personality; that poles and clefts and even trees can be entrances to the world below; that shamans are called by their first trance experience, which often manifests as an illness, and trained by the previous generation's shaman; that shamanistic trances and epileptic fits are similar; and most importantly that the highest calling of a shaman is to "restore balance" with nature for an entire people.
More imagery made sense with the understanding that going under water meant death from this world (and perhaps birth into the world of nature). The parallel between a woman traumatized by the relocation to modernity and a peeled potato going under water in a basin became clear.
I never entirely figured out the symbolism of the apples. Maybe they signify Soviet times, or maybe danger, or maybe a turn away from shamanism, or maybe materialism. And are potatoes distorted apples? I never entirely integrated the Christian symbolism. There are clear references to at least Christ, the last supper, the twelve disciples, and the cross. And I never entirely figured out the significance of counting. Although counting works as an adjunct of other symbolism, I suspect it has a meaning of its own.
There are no love scenes in the Western sense (after all, it's far too cold to take off one's clothes). We get only one tentative kiss, a couple ghost embraces, a tiny bit of touching, and a few lines of dialog. Yet the effect is sensuous in the extreme. This is way more with way less. The feelings are intense, yet without skirting an NC-17 or R rating (the movie is actually unrated; it could be PG ...but probably won't appeal to 13 year olds).
Yet all of this is secondary. What really stood out the second time was the importance of hyper-hearing ...abetted by the sound track. Suddenly the scene of the fishes under the ice made sense, as did hearing approaching trucks before they even appeared on the horizon. Ears are touched throughout, and some epileptic fits begin with auditory hallucinations. At one point a medical person comments the protagonist "listens very well". The motions of finding a person buried somewhere in a railroad car full of coal makes sense.
The sound track is very complex. Often rather than just matching the current scene, it contains the first subtle segue to the next. At one point the sounds of water in pipes goes on for so long it can get tuned out. But the sound subtly changes ever so slowly; toward the end one can dimly pick out mixed into all the water sounds another sound, that of sheep bleating.
The sound track is the key to and high point of this movie. It holds the story together. And it's excellent artistry. Yet the first time I completely missed it. Listen and you'll be richly rewarded.