Tuya de hun shi

This movie is more meaningful when viewed as a semi-documentary. Through the micro angle of a slightly dramatized story of Tuya, we are introduced to the macro reality of the harsh livelihood of the backward areas of Mongolia and, although not specifically addressed, of many parts of China.

Tuya's predicaments are by no means unique, or even unusual, for there are many areas in the mainland where natural resources that we in modern cities take for granted are luxuries. With her husband paralyzed as a result of attempts to drill wells for water, Tuya, relatively young, reasonably good looking and unquestionably able-bodied, takes up the burden of rearing a herd if lambs and caring for her husband and two children. The son, just about turning teen, is a help but the daughter is small. When the burden comes close to being unbearable, the couple resorts to what a lot of people in similarly locations under similar situations do. The have a divorce, and the wife looks for an opportunity for re-marrying, to a man capable of taking care of the children. In Tuya's case, there is another condition: the suitor must undertake to take in the paralyzed ex-husband.

The story, as the title suggests, revolves around the events leading to Tuya's marriage, or re-marriage. The events unfold in as natural a manner as can be presented in a movie. There are moments of both farce and pathos, but none is contrived. You can believe that this is exactly the way things would happen. YU Nan who plays Tuya is a marvelous actress. All the other key characters are real local people, using their real names in the movie, but I am not sure whether they are indeed acting out their own story.

"Tuya' marriage" won the Golden Berlin Bear earlier this year, a last-minute entry in the competition and a surprise winner.

almost documentary. a woman in Inner Mongolia. her family. and her husband. a delicate situation. and one option. nothing else. result - a film about basic things in a isolated space. taste of sand and dust. a silent heroic existence. beauty of images. drops of humor. and sensation of a lot of pictures by strangers. very familiar pictures. a warm feeling, mixture of compassion and curiosity. a border film between testimony and art product. because the story is present in many movies from East. because the place, language or details are only pieces of a large arena.after its end, the flavor of savage beauty remains in memory. more than social postcard, it is trip in forms of human meetings as form of profound happiness.

This movie makes me think about myself: compare the living conditions between Mongolia and us, I definitely think I am lucky, and thanks to my family. In Mongolia, the child needs to do a lot of work that I did not even try before, and they are lacking water resource. Also, their transportation is poor. Tuya's Marriage also shows their attitude of living, they do not give up, they still want to stay at their home instead of going to the city. Tuya is a strong woman, his husband is paralytic, so she needs to take care of her family by herself; she goes thousands of miles to get water and depasture sheeps every day, even she has physical problems. She divorced her husband in order to give a better condition to her family, she says everyone wants to marry me needs also need to support her ex-husband. The favorite scene in this movie is her child had been trapped in a wolf attack, she comes and says" do not worry, if these wolves attack you, I will eat them and leave these sheep here, I am gonna take you home". On this movie, I see a great mom, wife and a hot heart person.

Tuya' marriage is among one of the most successful attempts by China's sixth-generation directors to make a good film. Other equally successful ones included the Beijing Bicycle, the Little Red Flowers, etc, which were all made by film directors not quite familiar to Western viewers --- at least not as known as big names like Zhang Yimou.

The film is so real to life and depicts the life on the vast lands of Inner Mongolia so well, that it reminds me of my piecemeal impressions gathered during my trip to Inner Mongolia six years ago --- people were impoverished but so kind, materially backward but spiritually advanced, and the traditional way of life is preserved well.

Yu Nan's performance is really amazing. The plot is so moving and touching that at some points I felt so much involved as to worry about Sengge's death through drilling.

This is a new kind of experience even for Han Chinese to learn about the Mongolian life, and I hope it can be the same kind of revealing experience for audience in the West to understand the ethnic diversity in China --- Mongolians live harmoniously with Han Chinese in the same country called "China", just as it is the case with the other 55 minorities, including Tibetans.

In a nutshell --- Tuya's Marriage indeed deserves the Golden Bear at Berlinale, be it in essence or in name.

In my opinion, I do not believe that Tuya's Marriage is close to the movie I would recommend to everyone. The reason being is that it is slow paced, and does not truly go with any genre that I have dealt with in movies. But, this is why I am so intrigued by it, even though it is slow, it touched on important topics in world geography and people's lives and how they are affected when fate is unkind. I believe that this movie, even though it is not one I would recommend to everyone, is something that truly shows hardships and problems that happen in Inner Mongolia (which is situated in China). This movie does not really fall into a specific genre outside of extreme drama, but it is hard to realize this unless you take time after watching it to ponder the plot and the points made inside it. I think this is a movie more for someone looking to widen their eyes to problems in the world, and that want to understand how it can be in a certain place if tragedy strikes.