Absurdistan

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.

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.

I'll start by attempting to summarize the difference between "American comedy" and "East European comedy" in broad terms. Trust me, this is going somewhere...

American comedy focuses on characters. Gags rely on the personalities of the people involved, facial expressions, closeups, voice tones, and what we, the audience, are led to feel about these characters. For example, when Christopher Walken says "It needs more cowbell" that's all she wrote. A million intricate nuances of Walken's personality and delivery are what make that joke fly.

East European comedies (I'm thinking mainly of films by Kusturica, Paradjanov, and early Forman which remind me of "Absurdistan") seem to rely on situations and surroundings rather than close characterizations. Shots are filmed from a distance so that we take in more of the scenery and atmosphere, and we rarely get lingering closeups the way we do in American comedies. For example, in Forman's hilarious "The Fireman's Ball", one of the funniest scenes is the chaotic madness at the beauty competition where the camera stays far from the action and we don't really see any faces. We just take in the absurdness of the whole scene.

===OK FINALLY... THE REVIEW OF ABSURDISTAN=== "Absurdistan" falls squarely in the "East European comedy" category. The characters are deliberately 2-dimensional, as if the director is telling us that the story is what's important, not the actors. Like a Paradjanov film, it's a fairytale that doesn't want to be upstaged by human interference. Thus, no time is wasted on personal backstories, dramatic emotions, or charisma. None of the characters even have names except the main two. There aren't many pauses for reflection, and there's only one real monologue scene showing us the girl Aya's inner self.

Normally I would have no problem with this presentation. Like I said, Forman's "The Fireman's Ball" is one of the funniest films I've seen, even though I couldn't name a single character or describe their personalities. But in "Absurdistan" it presents a noticeable void in that this is a love story. For a love story to have maximum effect, the director must invest some time creating an emotional connection between the lead character(s) and the audience. Here instead, most of the characters are caricatures of vices, making them thoroughly unlikeable. Even the two lead characters commit certain acts that may make you dislike them.

So if you decide to see this movie, don't expect a very personal story. This Ain't no Hugh Grant flick. Instead, take "Absurdistan" at a distance as the movie is probably intended to be watched. This movie is a metaphor, a fable, a fairytale, and we aren't supposed to get caught up waiting for some personal emotional payoff.

If you've seen Viet Helmer's prior film "Tuvalu" it has much of the same approach. Except Tuvalu is not a love story, so the disconnection between characters & audience works. Here in "Absurdistan" it presents a conflict which may or may not fly, depending on how you like your love stories.

A final note, which may or may not mean anything to you, is that there are a few disturbing scenes with animals. A mule getting pulled & prodded, a chained dog getting soaked, a horse being tied up in a nasty looking horse-shoeing device, and a dead chicken that looked pretty real. Since this film was made in Azerbaijan outside the American Humane & RSPCA's jurisdiction, there certainly wasn't any "No animals were harmed" disclaimer at the end. If anyone knows how those scenes were monitored please post something about it.

This feature was filmed in Azerbaijan. This is remarkable since the main theme of the story involves sex, and in a Muslim country, this type of movie is definitely frowned upon. The story surrounds a young couple, Ava and Temelko. They are madly in love and have been told by her fortune-telling grandmother the night they may consummate their relationship. However, before the special night arrives, they run into problems as the lazy men of the town they inhabit have not performed any maintenance on the town's water pipes and they have broken. The women are fed up with having to do without water and go on "strike"...no water, no sex. The movie reminds me a little of "The Gods Must Be Crazy;" silly and slapstick humor along with a little more subtle humor underneath. The performances of Kristyna Malerova and Max Mauff were sympathetic and amusing.

To the reviewer below, I got my "facts" from the director of the film at the screening I attended...I was just repeating what I heard. I took the man (and the others involved in the film who agreed with him) at his word, and I think you are taking this commentary just a tad too seriously.

German director/writer,Veit Helmer's films are an acquired taste (much like Canada's Guy Maddin). His style of directing seems to lean toward the mainly visual (there is little to no dialog in his films),and in metaphorical terms,has a tendency to (at times)resemble some of the films of Czech film makers,Jiri Menzil,etc. In this gentle fable,'Absurdistan',the story takes place in the fictional village of Absurdistan,somewhere in a part of Russia that seems to have been forgotten by time (it's not supposed to be listed on any map),but still exists,none the less. Aya & Temelko are two young people who have been in love with one another since childhood. Aya's fortune telling grandmother predicts that the two should get together when two star signs merge. Sound simple enough? There is a problem in the village with the water supply (and the lazy,good for nothing men,who are content with just hanging out in the local teahouse all day while their women do all the work,including the work projects that the men start,but never seem to finish). When things get downright dire,what with the nearly total lack of water,the women stage a sex strike ultimatum on the men. It's up to Temelko to try & fix the water problem, so he can be with his beloved Aya forever. Veit Helmer directs & co-writes the screenplay (with the assistance of Zaza Buadze,Gordan Mihic & Ahmet Golbol). The cinematography by George Beridze makes nice use of what appears to be a arid,near desert environment. The cast is made up of mainly Russian actors who do their job well. If you enjoyed Helmer's film, 'Tuvalu' from a few years back, this will be another feather in your conical cap. Spoken (what little on screen dialog,outside of the narrative structure)in Russian with English subtitles. No MPAA rating,but contains flashes of nudity & sexual content.