Ever since its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes festival in 2008, it's been obvious that Tulpan - the feature debut of Kazakh documentary director Sergei Dvortsevoy - is an extraordinary film. The award in Cannes (for the best film in the section) marked the start of a series of triumphs for this work by Dvortsevoy - and Polish cinematographer Jolanta Dylewska - at international festivals. The list of awards and distinctions is impressive indeed: it includes trophies from the festivals in Karlovy Vary, Montreal, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, Cottbus, Zurich, and Goa (India), and prestigious awards such as a BAFTA Award and an Asian Film Award for Dylewska's cinematography.
Dvortsevoy's creative output comprises several documentaries, award-winners at major festivals (including Kraków), valued for clarity and for getting down to the core of the problems faced by the people they present. Asked why he abandoned documentaries in favour of features, Dvortsevoy admitted to Dylewska ("Kino", 5/2008):
"If I had continued making documentaries, I would have become a bad person."
It's true that contemporary documentaries, delving into the eccentricities and weaknesses of our times, seem to be reaching a dead end. Nevertheless, the methods used by documentary filmmakers are very useful in developing fictional plots. Made in the course of four years, Tulpan is the best example of this.
Tulpan is the name of a girl who lives in the Kazakh steppe known as Betpak Dala, the Hunger Steppe. She is courted by the young shepherd Asa, who used to be a sailor on a submarine and is now an ambitious employee of a farming conglomerate, and who dreams of tending his own herd. His boss promises him a herd as soon as he gets married, but Tulpan has other plans. She doesn't want to marry a shepherd, she prefers to live in the city and go to university. It's no wonder, when life in the steppe means not only coping with the hardships of raw nature every day, but also huge sacrifices - because practically nothing has changed in the lives of shepherds for centuries.
The story of Asa and his beloved (who hardly ever appears on screen) would be trivial if not for the broad context in which Dvortsevoy situates it. On the one hand, this is a story about reaching maturity - despite attaining manhood, Asa is still a youngster, he has no herd and treats his work in the steppe too lightly, and it isn't until he is left on his own that he learns the trade he's always dreamt of and passes his exam of masculine maturity in difficult circumstances. The theme of the ex-sailor's love dilemmas has been treated with the lightness typical of a romantic comedy, though also with respect both for the cultural tradition of the Kazakh community and for the dreams of young people yearning for a modern world whose hallmarks are old disco hits and tabloids rife with sex and celebrity gossip. Dvortsevoy doesn't limit himself to these issues alone. The story of the people living in the steppe is also, to use a naturalistic poetics, a story about the human struggle with nature, a detailed, almost anthropological reconstruction of the primeval rhythm of life of yurt dwellers, wandering from one fertile pasture to the next, living without any special aspirations, and meekly - the director stresses this is just an illusion - succumbing to their fate. At the same time, this is a portrayal of contemporary Kazakhstan, an independent country since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Dvortsevoy's camera shows that political sovereignty changes nothing in the fate of individuals: the radio informs listeners of grand new projects (dangerously similar to the great Soviet communist construction projects of old) in a wealthy country governed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, but people living in the steppe, which is called the Hunger Steppe for a reason, are vegetating on the brink of poverty. You can also look at the reality Dvortsevoy presents from a broader perspective - as the image of a society seeking its own path after the collapse of the Soviet empire.
The visual side of Tulpan is a separate aspect - it's practically a documentary portrayal of the steppe and its wild nature, where unexpected winds raise sandstorms and people live in a natural rhythm, co-existing in the harsh climate with the animals they keep. Jolanta Dylewska's camera evocatively presents this harsh landscape while highlighting its intriguing beauty and the extent of everyday hardships the people have to deal with.
- Tulpan, Germany/Kazakhstan/Russia/Switzerland/Poland 2008. Director: Sergei Dvortsevoy, screenplay: Sergei Dvortsevoy, Gennady Ostrovsky, cinematography: Jolanta Dylewska, editing: Petar Markovic, Isabel Meier, Sergei Dvortsevoy, set design: Roger Martin, costumes: Gaziza Korshiyeva, sound: Olivier Dandre, Williams Schmit, Stepan Muller, Martin Lonek, Ilya Biserov. Cast: Askhat Kuchinchirekov (Asa), Tulepbergen Baisakalov (Boni), Samal Eslyamova (Samal), Ondasyn Besikbasov (Ondas), Bereke Turganbayev (Beke), Nurzhigit Zhapabayev (Nuka), Mahabbat Turganbayeva (Maha), Amangeldi Nurzhanbayev (Tulpan's father), Tazhyban Kalykulova (Tulpan's mother), Zhappas Dzhailaubaev (foreman), Esentai Tulendiev (veterinarian). Production: Pandora Film, Filmcontract Ltd., Cobra Film AG, Pallas Film GmbH, Producer's Company Slovo, Eurasia Film, KAZ Export Cinema, CTB Filmproduction. Co-financed by: Polish Film Institute, Media Development, Medien und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, Russian Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography. Distribution: Against Gravity. Length 100 min. Released on 29 May 2009.
Author: Konrad J. Zarębski, April 2009
Awards:
- 2008
Main prize in the Un Certain Regard section for Sergei Dvortsevoy at the Cannes International Film Festival; Main Prize in the East of the West competition for Sergei Dvortsevoy at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Grand Prix for Sergei Dvortsevoy at the Tokyo International Film Festival, Sutherland Trophy for the most original film at the London Film Festival; best director award for Sergei Dvortsevoy at the Cottbus Film Festival of Young Eastern European Cinema; Silver Camera 300 for Jolanta Dylewska at the Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers' Film Festival in Bitoli; - 2009 - Asian Film Award for best cinematography for Joanna Dylewska.