Luna Papa

Mamlakat lives together with her father, her mentally handicapped brother Nasreddin and her sister. Her mother died when she was born. She´s dreaming of the great wide world. As a traveling group of theatre actors arrives in their little town, she´s spents a night with one of them. Actually she don´t even know his face or his name. One day she notices that she got pregnant and tells her father about it. They decide to find the unknown father of her unborn child. A long journey begins...

This movie will make you laugh and cry! It´s funny, charming but also tragic. Watch it, you will love it !!!

I really enjoyed this movie. A great tragicomedy! True to form, the story is great and unusual written by Irakli Kvirikadze. The story has multiple layers, so I recommend one more viewing to grasp its richness. I highly recommend seeing other films written by Kvirikadze. His screenplays are very enjoyable with layers of complexities. Most recent is 27 missing kisses directed by his wife Nana Djordjadze. He collaborated often with his wife. A Chef in Love (american release 1996) was one such film that was nominated for the Academy Awards in 1997. A feast for the eyes. Irakli Kvirikadze was first known for both his writing and directing.His films were repeatedly banned in the 80s and 90s during Soviet rule. Today he is known simultaneously as the Fellini of post-soviet cinema and the leader in post-soviet renaissance.

This is the story of 17-year old Mamlakat, a quite innocent girl from somewhere in the deserts of Tadshikistan. One evening, she sleeps with a stranger, an unknown actor of a traveling theater group, obviously not knowing about the consequences this might have. She never sees his face and - gets pregnant. In the following, she and her family search for the unknown father.

It's the unborn child who tells the story from the off, and the whole movie is as crazy and absurd like this. Drawn in mighty, impressive pictures, the movie is as strange as the landscape it takes place in.

Everything fits together perfectly: the story, the actors (especially Chulpan Khamatova as Mamlakat and Moritz Bleibtreu as her brother Nasreddin) and the "special" effects.

Let the story and the pictures go directly to your brain, like a colorful dream you are dreaming and can't get out. Don't block yourself with "logic" and so-called "intelligence", don't worry about crazy things that could never ever be, and you will love this unique movie!

I'm not sure I liked the ending, which was a bit on the surrealistic side even for this movie, but otherwise I was engaged by the humour of this movie. There aren't too many movies that surprise me repeatedly. I was afraid to leave my seat, as I figured the movie could go in any direction.

This isn't Hollywood. Instead, this was movie with peculiar, amusing and imaginative twists and turns, not to mention the odd sight gag.

I saw "A time for drunken horses" about a week before this. "Horses" was about Kurds and set in Iran on the border with Iraq, while "Luna" was set in breakaway republics of the old Soviet Union. There are lots of similarities between the movies: deep poverty, dealing with ignorant, unkind small town people, running a gauntlet of soldiers to do commerce, and so on, yet "Luna" is a great comedy and "Horses" very much a bleak drama. What you take away from both movies is that life is still very difficult and provincial in some parts of the world. Geographically, too, the films are set in locations that are not very far apart (at least from the perspective of a North American!). Woman are treated in a crappy "old world" way in both places, too.

Moritz Bleibtreau as Nesreddin, the brother, is brilliant. Perhaps he is the reincarnation of Harpo Marx.

If you're sick of Hollywood formula films and you want to have a good time, I'd recommend this one.

if we'd missed this film, we'd have had to fly to russia or sweden to see it. what an expensive night at the cinema that would prove. (is there a distributor out there reading this? we've got a big *HINT* stick we'd like to hit you with.)

we laughed and gaped through the entire film. we saw it at the toronto international film festival. mr khudojnazarov fielded questions after the premier. we asked about the scene with the cow; we believe he called it something akin to "an act of god".

please, see it and promote charming, intelligent directors who make charming, intelligent movies.

ps, you'll find out what happened to manni after lola ran with her DM.