Shiza

There is something magical in the films from Central Asian republics that serious viewers cannot disassociate themselves from them.No one knows for sure whether it has got something to do with folklore or customs or the fact that they have freed themselves from Soviet union.Whatever might be the reason it is sure that some of the films from these reasons are made by enterprising film makers who have always made nice films despite having been burdened with lack of funds.Schizo is one such film made by Guka Omarova.In the past she has been assistant to the great Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov.She has made good use of the current day political situation in Kazakhstan to make an entertaining film by using some rather common dramatic elements.Schizo functions as a double edged sword as not only it entertains but always leaves a serious message on viewers' minds.The film is a watchable treat thanks to the title character who proves in the end that the week and meek are not to be taken for granted.

"Schizo (Shiza)" is a wonderful demonstration of how new world cinema can take old stories that we've seen in the movies before and make them fresh in a new context.

We've all seen the movie about the poor, naive kid in way over his head with the local gangsters, who provide the only jobs in the neighborhood, then he starts feeling sorry for his boss's victims and tries to do the right thing for the survivors.

Debut director and co-writer Gulshat Omarova takes a unique approach through several elements.

First is the striking views of Kazakhstan in what has to be some of the bleakest locales of economic hopelessness and anarchy since the "Mad Max" movies, and this isn't post-apocalyptic science fiction.

Second is the striking casting of first-time or amateur actors with simply marvelous faces and on screen presence, particularly the young man playing the titularly nicknamed character. I'm sure U.S. audiences are missing some of the inter-ethnic tensions that can only be guessed as the actors have a variety of racial features, from Russian to Central and East Asian to Middle Eastern, let alone their accents or use of language.

Also unique is how the story has the tenderness of Truffaut's "The Four Hundred Blows" in seeing how an out of kilter kid gets treated harshly in this environment, from lousy schools to incompetent doctors, and has to grow up too fast.

While the film is excellent at demonstrating how raw masculinity and cruelty thrives in this brutal atmosphere, it is beautiful at showing the attraction of domesticity as women have appeal beyond (though of course including) sex. It manages to make unlikely relationships touching and credible as humans strive to create family out of whatever fractured groupings are available to them. It reinvents the love story.

If you are sitting at home and thinking: "you know, I would like to see a film dealing with life in present day Kazakhstan. Something with a fairly clean, simple plot, good direction, nice visuals, and a storyline that takes its time", then I would highly recommend this film.

It should be noted that this is a slow film. There is nothing really that happens in the film that is surprising if you are somewhat aware of the living conditions in central asia. I would say that the film's best feature is that is seems to do a pretty good job of giving the viewer an idea of what life is like in rural Kazakhstan.

Most of the landscape is bleak and desolate which means the acting and story must carry the film, they do. This movie is far removed from the typical big budget cotton candy dumbed-down Hollywood syrup.

I would categorize it as basically a humanistic survival story set in the rural outback. The emotions are as sparse as the back drop and yet still quite beguiling.

Some of the fights seemed a little unrealistic, however, it does not detract too much from the movie's overall believable tone. Also it was not a predicable film. At times you feel that Schizo may be mentally impaired, by his lack of communication, yet his demeanor is fitting to his environment and circumstances.

Perhaps one of the most overlooked and underrated Films at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Schizo is an excellent film from start to finish. Set in the rarely filmed former Soviet Satellite country of Kazakhstan, the film focuses on a 15-year-old street hustler named Schizo who works for his mother's rather unscrupulous boyfriend as a recruiter of young boxers for illegal match fights for gamblers. When one of Schizo's boxing recruits dies in the ring, the ailing man asks Schizo to deliver his share of the prize money to his 28-year-old girlfriend and young son. Schizo agrees to carry out the man's last request but after finding the woman and child living in a tiny shack in the middle of nowhere, he decides to adopt the family as his own and quickly falls in love with the woman.

Director Guka Omarova's decision to cast Olzhas Nusuppaev, a real-life orphan in the lead roll of Schizo truly adds a sense of realism to this great film. I strongly recommend seeing this film; it is a phenomenal piece of work.