Ala Kachuu - Take and Run

It's often frustrating how the worst aspects of society always hides behind the word "Tradition". It's a word that demands respect and servitude enough to nullify all avenues of criticisms. And one of the greatest examples of this on film is this year's Ala Kachuu - Take and Run by director Maria Brendle.

Ala Kachuu is about the very (locally) common tradition of bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan. We follow 19-year old Sezim, as portrayed brilliantly by actress Alina Turdumamatova, her abduction and marriage to her abductor, and the pressures of tradition and family that falls on the young girl who was never meant to be where she is. What seems like the most obvious violation of one's right to choose their future is in fact praised and cheered on for the sake of tradition, and seeing it unfold on screen with the realization that this exaggeration(?) mirrors real life for hundreds and thousands of young girls in Kyrgyzstan is just an infuriatingly difficult pill to swallow.

Ala Kachuu is a success in every front. From its on screen performances to its off screen technical detail... the movie pretty much sums up how effective this format of filmmaking can be. Nominated for "Best Live Action Short Film" for the 2022 Academy Awards, Ala Kachuu is most definitely the best of the lot. I don't think this movie has any shot winning the award however, with (the massively overrated) "The Long Goodbye" being the clear frontrunner in terms of the type of short films the Academy rewards, but that doesn't discount the brilliance that is Ala Kachuu.

It's definitely worth the watch!

A well-done piece about a form of human trafficking of which I was perhaps naively ignorant.

Sezim is young Kyrgyz woman who hopes to receive a scholarship to attend university, and consequently escape the life of household drudgery that her family is setting her up for. She gets a job at a bakery, and one day small group of young men with a sinister vibe come in asking about her coworker. She tells them her coworker has gone home sick, and therefore she doesn't know when she'll return. The men leave, but after she locks the store, they reappear and kidnap her. It soon becomes clear that, since her coworker wasn't available, they decided to take Sezim, in order to force her to marry one of the men.

I find the discovery of the details of a movie add to my surprise and enjoyment (I don't watch previews because of this, and only one-paragraph capsule reviews). While what I'm about to say doesn't rise to the level of spoiler, I would skip the next paragraph unless you *do* watch previews.

Apparently this is a still-accepted practice in some parts of rural Kyrgyzstan, of which I was unaware (as I previously mentioned). So accepted, in fact, that none of the relatives of Sezim's new husband, nor even Sezim's parents, have any reservations about the practice.

The filmmakers have done a great job of storytelling. I found myself engrossed in the story and strongly rooting for Sezim to escape her situation. I also felt grateful that they showed me, not just that bride-napping happens, but how it happens, how Kyrgyz society reacts to it, and how Sezim feels to be going through it.

One quibble. For me it's a big one, but may not be for you. It is never clear during the film where this is happening. They mention Bishkek, but until I got home and looked it up, I didn't know that it's the capital of Kyrgyzstan. I'm sure that there are other places in the world where it's culturally acceptable to kidnap women to be brides. As a terrifying reality, I would think that the filmmakers would want their audience to know where their story was set, and where else in the world the same story happens. The way they tell the story, I'm sure they want the free world to be aware of it. But for it to change, I would think they would want people to know *where* the change needs to happen.