matsuo-1
Joined Jan 2007
Welcome to the new profile
We're still working on updating some profile features. To see the badges, ratings breakdowns, and polls for this profile, please go to the previous version.
Reviews2
matsuo-1's rating
For me, this was easily one of the worst movies I have seen in years. And not because I am in any way against slow movies. I had expected a movie about Mongolia, but this movie has no more to do with Mongolia than Borat has with Kazakhstan. Maybe even less. And the plot is even more nonsensical. Of course it's all right to make movies completely devoid from connections to real life (a lot of movies are), but my guess is that a lot of people will come away from the movie with the impression that -to name just one smaller piece of nonsense- you do in fact need to watch out for roaming tanks in the Gobi.
I always waited for something that would justify the entrance fee, or the amount of time I had already waited. Unfortunately, nothing happened.
I always waited for something that would justify the entrance fee, or the amount of time I had already waited. Unfortunately, nothing happened.
I just finished watching Tuya's marriage at the Berlin Film Festival and would rate it 8/10. The movie deals with a herder woman in Inner Mongolia who decides to divorce because her husband is sick and unable to care for her and the family. Since she still loves him, any prospective new husband must promise to care for her and the kids as well as for her old husband.
The plot may sound a bit constructed, but it actually works remarkably well. The pictures are great, and after D. Byambasuren's rather static movies this is finally a drama set in the steppes. The most important thing is probably that the movie takes its subjects seriously. Maybe a bit too seriously at times, but not that seriously that it disturbs the movie.
So, why not giving it 10/10? I missed the Mongolian language. Of course language isn't everything (see Mongolian Pingpong or Apocalypto), but when even the drinking habits are dealt with in greatest detail, why didn't they bother to find a cast that can speak Mongolian? I asked the director about why they used Chinese (that's what you go on film festivals for), but his answer was not really convincing. I suppose some opportunistic reason, like the main actress can't speak Mongolian. Anyway, this only means that you can as well enjoy this movie in a dubbed version.
In short: Definitely recommended.
The plot may sound a bit constructed, but it actually works remarkably well. The pictures are great, and after D. Byambasuren's rather static movies this is finally a drama set in the steppes. The most important thing is probably that the movie takes its subjects seriously. Maybe a bit too seriously at times, but not that seriously that it disturbs the movie.
So, why not giving it 10/10? I missed the Mongolian language. Of course language isn't everything (see Mongolian Pingpong or Apocalypto), but when even the drinking habits are dealt with in greatest detail, why didn't they bother to find a cast that can speak Mongolian? I asked the director about why they used Chinese (that's what you go on film festivals for), but his answer was not really convincing. I suppose some opportunistic reason, like the main actress can't speak Mongolian. Anyway, this only means that you can as well enjoy this movie in a dubbed version.
In short: Definitely recommended.