'Tulpan' review

Askat Kuchinchirekov (Credit: Zeitgeist Films)

Former sailor and aspiring herdsman Asa (Askhat Kuchencherekov) can’t get his own flock until he gets married, and there’s an alarming shortage of women to wed. So he continually tries to win the hand of the only available option, Tulpan, while also helping his brother-in-law with sheep, camels and newborn lambs.

The buzz: Winner of the Prix Un Certain at the 2008 Cannes Film Fest, director/co-writer Sergey Dvortsevoy’s “Tulpan” was also Kazakhstan's 2009 submission to Oscar’s Foreign-Language Film category. It's a good thing that this storyline about the disappearing shepherd lifestyle is being handled from an insider’s perspective; we can only wonder/fear what someone like Johnny Knoxville would do with the situation of trying to impress a woman he’s never met and assisting with the birth of a lamb.

The verdict: A microcosm of life’s constant roadblocks to success, “Tulpan” focuses on a dreamer who just wants a good job and a woman who needs him, but can’t change what he can’t change. The movie, gorgeously shot and spellbindingly patient, also achieves a documentary-level realism that is nothing short of amazing, from the intoxicating singing of Asa’s niece and sister to the stunning scenes of wildlife, whether they’re roaming free or bleating with mid-delivery pain. It’s both beautiful and alarming, inspiring and sad, comedic and dead-serious, capturing the sound of the desert and the gritty experience of doing everything with your own two hands.

Did you know? When first meeting Tulpan’s parents, Asa goes on and on about the danger of octopuses and how you have to bite them between the eyes or they’ll kill you. Can you believe this didn’t appeal to his prospective in-laws?

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