Urga

One of the best films I know: beautiful, pensive, playful, realistic, poetic, humane, up-lifting. In the barrage of trash, one of the few films that makes me believe in humanity. I love this film so much that I arranged home projections for my friends several times. With all the up beat that I am mentioning, it is very open and truthful. Where in an American movie could you see an on-screen slaughter of a real lamb? And it was not ugly or gory at all! On the contrary, it was very decent and sensitive, teaching us respect for Nature.

And another little point. Has anybody noticed the inconspicuous little voice-over at the end which essentially makes "Urga" science fiction?!

Urga is an excellent example of the magic of film in allowing people of very different cultures to communicate their various realities and common humanity. To someone like myself coming from a "modern developed culture", I found this tale of a culture that has only recently experienced the impact of "western" society, an entrancing and wonderful experience. It is visually beautiful, frequently wildly funny and life-affirming. For an unusual and extremely accessible film experience - or as a primer for the intending visitor - Urga can be heartily recommended.

"Close to Eden" (Russian, 1992): Living on the simple, harsh, flowing Steppes of China/Mongolia, we meet a traditional family. By the photography and music, it's clear from the start that we should to accept, if not admire, their difficult but very satisfying life. Yes, there are signs of contemporary urban society – the young son wears a baseball cap, the daughter plays the accordion, and the wife wants her husband to travel to the nearest city for condoms (they are already over the legal limit of children), and a television. Eventually in the position of helping a stranded Russian truck driver, the husband travels with him to an urban "center" and deals with "city" life. "Close to Eden" patiently mutates from a beautifully straight forward "document", to one full of symbols - not just the threat of encroaching urban blight, but reminders of their proud racial past. Eventually narrated by the fourth son (any more than two is illegal in rural China), and named after the great Genghis Khan, he completes the story long after his grandmother, parents, and original hut are gone.

If you ever wondered how an ordinary life could have been like without constant bombardment of television, ads and all the trappings of a hierarchical society, this movie beautifully depicts the life such a family, in the process of being unconsciously absorbed by the modernity the rest of us are so familiar with. The lead guy's performance as he tries to bemusedly make sense of the city and its services and warez is very touching. Its sad to see a strong, capable, independent soul finely tuned to the nature he is part of being slowly displaced by the "greater" civilisation, but its also an uplifting narrative of escapisim to a place where the contradictions and pretensions of the organised society does not exist.

Nikita Mihalkov is a god when it comes to film. The guy below me is probably a not very smart, Hollywood films are 20% good and the rest is garbage just like your comment. I have seen but a few good American films the rest is the same old crap. I would like to say that American films have no life its always the same. This film has an amazing plot with its twist and turns make it a master piece. I am just trying to get my point across but the policy won't let me have anything smalled than 10 lines. I would love to me Nikita Mihalkov and just let him know that he is such a great director. So please when you see this really try to learn to speak and understand the Russian language so you can actually grasp what the movies is all about and really suck in the meaning of it.