Angel on the Right (Farishtay Kitfi Rost) - (2002, Tajikistan)
Spokane International Film Festival (Day 3) - First off, let me set the stage for this a little bit. Katrina met me as I got off work at 5:00. She warned that there was already a pretty big line for the film... Thanking myself for having the forethought to actually reserve tickets, we rushed over to the AMC and cut past the ridiculous line to snag our tickets from will call.

Knowing 'Hickville' (aka Spokane) the way I do, I was expecting that this would be playing in one of the smaller theatres and would play to, at best, a half-full theatre. WRONG!! We were in one of the huge auditoriums and the place was *packed*... Kat and I ended up in the back row right under the projector as it was the only place we could find two seats together. By the time the film started the was just a few single seats left in the theatre. They actually had to delay the start of the film to accommodate the people still in line to get tickets.

The sight gave me hope for cinema in Spokane.

Anyway, on to the films...

First the Australian short film Fetch (1998, Dir: Lynn-Maree Danzey) told us the story of a young man arriving at a lady's apartment for their first date. While he waits for his date to get ready, he casually plays with her dog and its favorite toy: a red ball. He grows disinterested and steps out onto her balcony for a bit of fresh air. After coming back in, he sits down and naturally leaves the balcony wide open as he nonchalantly tosses the ball around. Oops! You can guess what comes next......or can you? The end of the film left me completely speechless! Dark comedy at its best!

And now, our feature presentation...

Made in Tajikistan, Angel on the Right (2002, Dir: Djamshed Usmonov) tells the story of a Moscow criminal, named Hamro, who is returning home to pay his final respects to his dying mother... or so he thinks! In reality, he has been duped by her into coming back to renovate her home and put in a long promised fence gate. Hamro's life is made even more complicated by the fact that he owes just about everyone money (the mayor, the door-maker, the Russian mob, etc.), and the sudden discovery of a long-forgotten son.

Hamro is a shockingly cruel man who has never taken responsibility for much of anything and plot of the film revolves around the possibility of his redemption. Will it come in the form of his mother, his illegitimate son, his mother's nurse (who he nearly rapes and before she falls in love with him!?), or will it even come at all? The answer is given to us in the powerful final shot of the film.

The theme of redemption fits well with the title, whose origins come from an Islamic tale of two angels that rest on each person's shoulders; the angel on the left records evil deeds and the angel on the right records good deeds. On judgement day these deeds will be weighed to determine the final resting place of a person's soul.

The pacing of the film is remarkably different from anything a your typical ADHD American audience would be used to. The film gradually drifts along, featuring extremely long takes of its characters doing relatively mundane actions. You could easily find yourself bored to tears if not for the fascination that the glimpse into everyday Tajikistani life brings.

Another point of interest is that the film, though very dark in places, is intended to be a comedy of sorts. The humor is very subtle and though you will seldom find yourself belly-laughing, the wry, dark comedy will bring a grin to your face more than once.

Overall, I enjoyed the film and I am looking forward tomorrow's post Super Bowl screening of the Chinese film, "The Green Hat."

Rating: R
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- posted by Stephen @ 10:13 PM