Russian film-maker Nikita Mikhalkov’s “Urga” aka “Close to Eden” (1991) is one of those non-narrative movies that moves at a glacial pace and riddled unrelatable characters, but still manages to bestow us an indelible movie experience. This carefree docu-drama tries to explore the vanishing or largely vanished lifestyle of inner Mongolians, who herd sheep and horses with their family in a stunningly beautiful landscape. The exhilarated freedom, the robust family values and fear over the modern technological changes are subtly addressed in this tale of Mongolian nomads. An ‘Urga’ refers to a long stick with a lasso at the end, which the Mongols use it to catch away the adrift sheep and horses. When Mongolian couples make love out in the field, they plant it in the ground to warn others. “Territory of Love” is another English title given to the movie, which is a more apt one, especially after considering that “Urga” is all about sublimely depicting how the nomads’ beloved territory is impinged upon, in the name of technological & cultural advancement.
The PG rated “Urga” starts with a sequence that makes us
question the PG rating for a moment or two. We see a rider on a white horse
holding the Urga, chasing another rider on a black horse. The rider on the
black horse, who is a woman, falls onto the grass and tries to run away, while
the man in the white horse catches up with her. He forcefully embraces the
woman, but she manages to push him back to escape towards her ‘yurt’ (round
tent). Later, we see the woman, with blood oozing from her nose, sitting in the
same tent with the man who chased her. As we gradually observe this man and
woman, we get to understand the statement ‘appearances can be deceiving’. Gombo
(Bayaertu) and Pagma (Badema) are radiantly happy couples, living with three
adorable children and an elderly grandmother.
The rape-like scenario has arisen because Pagma, the city
girl who has embraced the ways of her husband's nomadic life, wants to respect the Chinese
law of three children (for ethnic minorities; Chinese should follow one- child
policy, which was ended recently). Gombo, who was enamored by the tales about
Mongolian king Genghis Khan, wants to have a fourth child (Genghis Khan was
born as a fourth child). Pagma remains wise to the ways of contraception and
insists her husband to buy condoms the next time he goes to city. We also get
to observe the positively infectious, pastoral lifestyle of the family, whose
yurt consists of few modern artifacts like a Swiss knife, a portable stereo,
generator, a baseball cap, and an accordion. The family is often visited by
drunk uncle Bayartou, riding on a horse, giving them some random gifts.
Bayartou has no home and family as we see his belongings – umbrella, a
suitcase—hitched onto the horse’s saddle.
On one instance, the uncle gives the picture of Sylvester
Stallone (from “Rambo”) to Gombo’s family, who doesn’t own a TV or have seen a
movie, and humorously states that he is his brother, living in America.
Although the family doesn’t believe Bayartou, we later see Stallone joining the
modern artifacts (hangs inside the yurt). Quite unexpectedly, on one fine
morning, a Russian truck driver named Sergei (Vladimir Gostyukhin) meets up
with Gombo. The burly Russian road worker sleeps while driving the truck, which
plunges half-way into the lake. A wealth of details is imbued upon us as Sergei
meets Gombo’s family for the dinner. Gombo and Sergei strike up a mirthful
camaraderie, which is never exploited for dramatic encounters. The next day,
Gombo goes with Sergei with his two horses on a mission to buy a TV and condoms
(as per Pagma’s instruction).
Director Mikhalkov made “Urga” after the collapse of Soviet
Union with the help of renowned French producer Michel Seydoux. The movie is
seen to be a departure point for Mikhalkov (who later went onto make Oscar
winning “Burnt by the Sun” and other acclaimed works like “The Barber of
Siberia”, “12”, etc), who had in his earlier part of career made period films. In
“Urga”, Mikhalkov advocates for mankind’s reunion with nature, and prefers
wilderness, tribal rituals in favor of contemporary lifestyle and modern
civilization (which is said to have drawn lot of criticism in his homeland).
However, Mikhalkov doesn’t make these generalizations in a bland manner. The
director starts on a simple yet astounding anthropological level. His excellent
directorial skills are evident in the manner he captures the feel and rhythms
of the couple’s life, their daily chores and their hospitality towards guests
(the slaughter and skinning of the sheep would surely rattle animal-lovers and
vegetarians). The nuanced cultural revelations of the Mongols leave us with as
much exhilaration as we witnessed about Eskimos in Robert Flaherty’s seminal
documentary “Nanook of the North”.
Spoilers Ahead
Sergei’s character initially seems to inhibit all the
Russian stereotypical manners. Steel teeth, army background, tattoos, overjoyed
nature, assumed superiority and horrified gaze towards Mongolian traditions
are all the expected Russian elements diffused by the director. As Sergei
strikes a mild friendship with Gombo, and when the duo makes way for the city,
we also expect the narrative to travel like a buddy comedy. But, unexpectedly
Mikhalkov offers a more humanistic side of Sergei rather than wallowing in
stereotype. The depressed weeping of Sergei’s wife, Marina and the silent
desolation of his girl child represents how hard it is for the Russian to
survive as a stranger in the city. We could understand the kinship between
Gombo and Sergei, who both are victims of a harsh economic reality and
industrialization. Mikhalkov also doesn’t shy away from observing at Sergei’s
superior, hypocritical attitude (evident in Sergei’s tale of sacrifices and in
his grandeur vision about Russian forces and fields).
The subtle notions that Mikhalkov imbues in the narrative when
Gombo travels for the city might be lost on quite a lot viewers. Mikhalkov and
writer Roustam Ibraguimbekov aren’t interested in making a traditional movie
out of a much unknown culture. Gombo’s bewildering misadventures in the city
are never pitched up to make it a straightforward, feelgood drama. The incongruous journey of Gombo (trotting on horse through paved streets); his
nervous reaction in the medical shop, filled with women employers; and his
eagerness to eat sugar plums or to buy baseball cap, TV, cycle, etc. seems to
insist how rapidly his culture is diminishing and how people are attracted by
various symbols of cultural imperialism. The nuanced details about Gombo’s
experiences are all wonderfully amalgamated in the poetic dream sequence. In
the dream, Gombo’s guilt over embracing modern artifacts acts up as he sees
Genghis Khan and his army thunderously arriving to punish (“What’s this iron
shit you ride? Where’s your horse”).
The reflective as well as comical dream sequence is then
followed by more brilliant scene. In it, we see Gombo’s family consumed by the
modern civilization: the grandmother single-mindedly pops out the bubble paper
from television box; Gombo uses his ‘urga’ as aerial and they all watch news
report about the meeting of Gorbachev and Ronal Reagan. The camera gazes at
every family member’s face and all we see is an expression of emptiness and
doubt. Slowly, Pagma goes out of the tent and we see her on TV screen, smiling
and holding a yurd as if commenting that their life in this pastoral landscape
is more interesting and less chaotic than the modern civilization possession by
television, which is full of haphazard, unwanted things. The puzzling form of
the film comes in the form of its ‘epilogue’, where an adult male voice says
“This is how I, the fourth child of Gombo was born. They called me Taimoudjine
like Genghis Khan in his childhood”. The man’s voice also suggests at the
transformation of the steppe and his livelihood. The city’s setting, the
television programs hints that the film is set in the present (that is in late
1980s) and so the epilogue narration of Gombo’s fourth child means that it’s a
voice coming 20 years later from the present. Or else Mikhalkov just blurs the
idea of time to note how all the existing cultures and beautiful valleys are
changed or annihilated for the sake of obscure human advancement.
“Urga” (119 minutes) is a subtle, bittersweet commentary on the
dilemma of a indigenous family, caught between the reluctance of moving forward
with times and notion of holding back their identity. The rich life led by
these nomads portrays how calm life could be, unburdened by the western values & objects.
Trailer
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