One of the most bonkers films brewed in the genre kitchen this year is the Kazakhstan horror-sprinkled comedy ‘Sweetie, You Won't Believe It' directed by Yernar Nurgaliyev, a name to remember and watch for in the future. Nurgaliyev is not exactly a newcomer, but this is his first feature length film that crossed the borders of his native Kazakhstan to hit international festivals, clicking with the genre-drawn audiences. The film had its world premiere at the Warsaw Film festival back in October after which it screened in Sitges. We caught up with it at PÖFF in the ‘Midnight Shivers' section.
Echoing the tropes from popular films around the turn of the millennium, ‘Sweetie, You Won't Believe It' is borrowing bits and pieces from many places, becoming a cabinet of curiosities of sorts. At the same time, it is as Kazakh as it can be, on one side mirroring the societal norms and values, and on the other a land-specific humor. Although not flawless, Yernar Nurgaliyev's venture into the risky domain of blending comedy with horror and the local with ‘the western', proves to be fantastic.
Archaic is the representation of women as annoying and nagging creatures that men simply have to get away from, hence the movie's title which is, so to speak, a wee spoiler. On the other hand, as mentioned before – this isn't anything new or geographically conditioned, and there are attempts to flatten it out which aren't always fortunate.
The good news is that there is a flip side of the same coin. As in most of recent Kazakh fiction films, masculinity plays part of the prank regardless of the type of role it houses in. Baddies are always hilarious to watch in their exaggerated fashion choices, scruffy hairdos or poor body hygiene, and good guys have to find their inner Tarzan. And what all of them have in common is clumsiness. Things happen because they are neither talented for crime nor daily practicalities and barely capable of finding a logical solution to a problem. In that way, a sort of (gender) balance gets established, if not always quite intentionally.
When one of the three lead characters Dastan (Daniyar Alshinov) gets a phone-call from his bank interrupting his shopping, one of the things the female clerk asks him is if he's not man enough to pay back what he owes. The message the scriptwriters of ‘Sweetie You Won't believe It' wanted to pass to us is Dastan's wish to reverse the emasculation he is subjected to. His highly pregnant wife Zhanna (Asel Kaliyeva) doesn't stop nagging, she's questioning his manhood, and life is hell. The last he needs to hear is that he also isn't a man enough outside of his marriage.
The adventure Dastan invests so much energy organizing in order to make himself feel manly again will not exactly make him produce more testosterone, but he will run into a testosterone fueled gang and a crazy killer instead, which eventually will teach him that one lesson about priorities in life.
Put under so much pressure, our good man (psychologist by profession!?) is plotting a fishing trip with his two best friends, not taking very seriously warnings issued over media about the disappearance of many people over the course of the year, in exactly the same area where they are set to go. All he hears are lines from a TV program before the actual news: “It's time for women to realize that fishing is something sacred to men. It is not only booze, grills and nature-it has a much deeper meaning.” Believing that fishing is just a code name for their common getaway, Dastan's friends Arman (Azamat Marklenov) and Murat (Erlan Primbetov) come to pick him up with a van full of ‘damaged goods' that don't serve a purpose in nature, except on one single occasion.
Considering how many people had their fingers hitting the keyboard, ‘Sweetie, You Won't Believe It' is a strangely well-plotted narrative that blends drama, comedy and horror into an irresistible hybrid. Strange as it sounds, the six cooks haven't spoiled the broth. With nods to great genre classics, the film is full of little tribute gems scattered all over its 84 minutes runtime, including the credit cookie with its Romero-esque scene.
Ear-pleasing is the original music composed by Nazarbek Orazbekov with is summer feel-good smoothness and retro sound of the 1980s, giving acoustic background to some of the most hilarious scenes in the film.
One of the Kazakhstan's famous singers Alamat Sakatov plays a middle-aged gang boss Kuka who's going around quoting wisdom memorized from a pocket book of national proverbs between giving orders to his brainless companions Peetok and Kissyk. What their purpose in that Godforsaken place really is doesn't matter, even less who's their fourth companion with weak knees who faints at the sight of blood. And because there is lots of red matter flowing, there's also lots of fainting. We are nevertheless thankful for his dance performance to the tune of a Kazakh pop song.
Indulge into this crazy world as soon the opportunity presents itself. We promise you a family of crazies, a one-eyed maniac, blood, sweat and laughter.
hay alguna plataforma en donde pueda ver la pelicula?