As we have mentioned some time before, contemporary Mongolian cinema is making some steps forward during the latest years, with a number of movies that seem to have appeal outside the borders of the country. As such, and although a number of inherent issues remain, it is quite hopeful to see films that highlight the aforementioned fact. “The Only Reason” is one of those.
The Only Reason is available from The Filmbridge
Emma is an aspiring singer who lives with her self-centered boyfriend, in a relationship that is problematic to say the least. Furthermore, the girl faces a rather intense psychological issue, since she does not seem to be able to sing in public. On a fateful night, she decides to leave her boyfriend and starts roaming the streets during the night, eventually stumbling upon a young guy, who, after getting shoved by her boyfriend, takes her in and tries to help her with her issue. During the same night, a drunk painter, Uchral, is also roaming the streets, causing trouble, in a path that eventually leads them to the room of a young girl who is soon revealed to have cancer. The two form an unlikely friendship, but the young man has to face a number of demons. In the meantime, a deadline for him and a talent show for Emma are upon them.
Allow me to begin with the negative aspects of the movie. The pacing, continuity and logic here are a bit faulty, as exhibited in the scene where Emma's boyfriend finds her in the middle of the night, shoves a guy that happens to be a musician, and the next scene immediately has the three in a police station with the shoved guy wearing a medical collar. Furthermore, the music video moments can be a bit “cheesy”, with the particular type of folk music definitely not helping. Lastly, the appearance and initial behavior of Uchral definitely does not point towards a sensitive, introverted artist, although in the end, Khongortsog Khongortsag “sells” it convincingly, to a point at least.
“The Only Reason” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
Apart from those issues however, there are a number of elements that definitely tick the pros column. The energy of the initial scenes with Uchral are captivating at times, particularly with his walking through the night and his violent temper, with the same applying to Emma's walk, and the sudden appearances again of Uchral, that induce the movie with a slight surrealistic note. Furthermore, the concept of the singer who cannot sing in public, and the ways her new friends come up with in order to make her overcome it are quite entertaining to watch, with the scene with the local women singing and the “magical night” one being among the best moments of the movie. The relationship of Uchral with the girl with the cancer is also rather appealing, as much as how her courage changes him, with Gandush, though, not leaving the reality of the whole thing completely off the story. The same applies to the presentation of how difficult relationships can be nowadays and the whole concept of trauma, both of which are realistic in their presentation.
Furthermore, the production values are also on a high level. Unurbayasgalan Khurelbaatar has captured both urban and the outskirts-of-the-city quite nicely, with the night shots in particular being quite appealing. The same applies to his framing, which occasionally follows voyeuristic paths and also focuses intently on presenting the uniqueness, in terms of appearance, of the two protagonists. Boldbaatar Baasanjav's editing results in a relatively fast pace that works well here, occasionally even masking some of the shortcomings of the script, while the initial montage is rather good.
Khongortsog Khongortsag as Uchral looks particularly good when he is emitting mystery and danger, although I feel that he would be much better in the role of a killer or a criminal in general than that of a painter. His charisma, however, is evident, as much as Zoljargal Bayarsaikhan's, who plays Emma with gusto, with the moments she erupts and the ones she highlights her transformation being the apogee of her performance.
Batzaya Gandush's direction still needs some work, while the issue a number of Mongolian productions seem to have with the writing, is also present here. However, the energy the film emits, the job done in the casting, and the fact that the director definitely has an eye for composition allow “The Only Reason” to move beyond its shortcomings, resulting in a movie that definitely deserves a watch.
