History
and religion have not been kind to Kyrgyzstan. They are still stuck with the
trappings and infrastructure of the mid-1980s Communist era, while chauvinistic
attitudes keep them from evolving into a modern society. The nation is
overwhelmingly Muslim, but there is also a shamanistic tradition.
Unfortunately, many now equate shamanism with fakery. Karabas and his first
wife Zhipara are partly to blame for that. When they reunite, they start
pulling some of their old scams together, much to the consternation of his new
second life. There isn’t a sitcom on network TV that reflects this not-so
modern family unit, perhaps because its long-term viability is not such a sure
thing in Elizaveta Stishova’s Suleiman
Mountain (trailer
here),
which screens during the Seattle International Film Festival.
When
Zhipara finds her long-lost son Uluk in an orphanage, Karabas welcomes them
both back into his unstable life. In the meantime, he also married the
now-pregnant Turaganbubu, but polygamy remains an acceptable practice in “modern”
Kyrgyzstan. She wants nothing to do with Uluk and Zhipara, but Karabas is
fiercely loyal to his son. Yet, he is so gruff and generally irresponsible, he
ends up crushing all the boy’s expectations. Frankly, Karabas is not much, but
Kyrgyzstani society is such that both Zhipara and Turaganbubu believe they need
him as a protector.
Named
for the spiritually and geologically significant landmark, Suleiman Mountain takes viewers to an exotic locale, rarely seen in
film, but gives them a distinctly gritty, hardscrabble view of life there.
Everyone in Kyrgyzstan has it hard, but Karbas’s invariably bad decisions
always make things worse. Despite his somewhat picaresque nature, it is often painful
to watch his corrosive influence on the people around him. Yet, there is no
denying the film’s raw energy and unvarnished honesty.
Asset
Imangaliev is so believably self-centered and self-sabotaging as Karabas,
viewers will want to pummel him, after only twenty minutes. Turgunay
Erkinbekova similarly comes across utterly naturally as the confused and
resentful Turganbubu. Yet, Perizat Ermanbetova towers above everyone as the
weary but resourceful Zhipara.