Absurdistan

Reportedly based on a true story (though with quite a bit of legendary embellishment, one assumes, at least in its more fantastical elements), "Absurdistan" takes place in a remote village where the women wage a full-fledged battle-of-the-sexes, agreeing to withhold their conjugal duties until the men in the community repair the pipe that for decades has brought water to the town. The story also features Tamelko (Max Mauff) and Aya (Kristyna Malerova) as two teenagers whose own plans to finally consummate their relationship must now be put on hold.

Homespun in appearance and humanistic in tone, "Absurdistan" (a German film done in Russian) is highly reminiscent of those quirky Czech comedies that enjoyed such popularity here in the States back in the 1960s. The scenes set in the past have been deliberately designed to look like aging home movies - grainy, washed-out, and scratchy - while those set in the present are crisp, clean and bursting with color.

The movie blends small town humor with touches of magic realism and the occasional flight of fancy. There are times, admittedly, when the movie gets a little too silly and cutesy for its own good, but, on the positive side, it never takes itself too seriously or condescends to its characters. The mood is upbeat and the details charming in what amounts to a modern-day (but not TOO modern-day) version of "Lysistrata."

In a forgotten village in the middle of nowhere, the aging population faces a problem: lack of water. The old men are too lazy to solve the problem, and the young leave town to seek a solution but never come back. A young man, who is in love with a girl in town, must solve this problem in order to marry her. He works on that, while the rest of the village fights the classical war of the sexes. The protagonist is very charismatic. He is naive, intelligent and persistent. Since a very early age he creates ludicrous inventions, being completely different from the rest of the people in the town. He completely ignores the war and confusion going on around him, focused only in his objectives: to solve the lack of water problem. Even his girlfriend gets involved in the disputes, believing he also is involved, and adding to the pressure for a solution. A lot of funny things happen in the city, while the women try to force their husbands to work out the problem and the men try to avoid it.

This is a quirky comedy on similar lines with movies like Amelie and like Amelie has a strong visual style with minimum dialog. Personally I really like this kind of movies, which surprise you and delight you at every turn without any Hollywood clichés. The movie just keeps on moving from one absurd situation to other.

The female lead Kristyna Malérová is definitely easy on the eyes and has done a great job. As the movie has much less dialog as compared to a normal film, it requires the actors to convey a lot with their body and facial expressions, and the actors don't disappoint.

If you like quirky comedies like Amelie, give this one a go.

Veit Helmer's "Absurdistan" is a satire on the temptation to shirk one's responsibility. It's set in a village in the Caucasus ignored by all the surrounding governments. The men are so obsessed with proving their manliness that they've ignored the aging pipe that provides the village with its water. So, the women use their own power to force some change.

One trick that the movie uses is to never identify the country in which the story takes place. They speak Russian, but it could just as easily be Georgia, Armenia or Azerbaijan (or even Chechnya). The point is that this village is one of the world's forgotten places. The people rely exclusively on each other and their know-how. It's inevitable that the two young protagonists get caught up in the village's traditions and lackadaisical attitude towards a glaring problem. For all that we know, there could be places like this in the US or Canada.

I recommend the movie.

This is a delightful film, and left me with a smile on my face that lasted quite some time. Like all good comedy, it must not be taken too seriously, though it deals with some very serious issues indeed. Even if the film was made in Azerbaijan, the story is certainly not 'about' a Muslim country as such, of whatever style. One of the couples does have a large picture of a mosque above the marital bed, but some scenes are in what appears to be a Christian church, albeit devoid of overt symbols, and, in one, some of the women cross themselves with holy water. But these references to religion are incidental: the film is not to be interpreted in realistic terms. It is allegorical and is simply about people, no matter where they live. A jaunty score nicely reinforces the comedic mood.