ASHIK KERIB
A film review by Thomas E. Billings
Copyright 1989 Thomas E. Billings
Synopsis: In the distant past in Russia, a poor minstrel roams the countryside, trying to earn money to pay the bride-price for the woman he loves (she is the daughter of a rich man). In his journeys, he must deal with villains, despots, spirits, and some very strange people. A very colorful, sophisticated folk tale, done with great style and considerable humor.
U.S.S.R. (English subtitles), color, 1988, approx. 90 minutes. Director: Sergei Paradjanov
This is the latest film by the famous Soviet Director, Sergei Paradjanov. Paradjanov is famous for his "classic" films THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES and SHADOWS OF OUR FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS, and for serving time in prison for the "crime" of homosexuality [yes, homosexuality is a crime in the Soviet Union]. (Remark: the preceding two lines are statements of fact, not to be interpreted as opposing or favoring homosexuality).
The story here concerns Ashik Kerib, a handsome but poor minstrel, who is in love with the beautiful daughter of a rich man. The woman is in love with Ashik, and wants to marry him. However, when Ashik approaches her father, he is rebuffed.
Ashik then leaves his small village to wander the countryside in search of work. This begins his strange adventures. For example, two spirits appear in human form, declaring themselves to be the protectors of wandering minstrels. They lead Ashik to a job, playing his music at a wedding where everyone is blind. Immediately after this, Ashik is led to play at a wedding where everyone is deaf, dumb, and blind!
Everywhere he goes, poor Ashik runs into trouble and/or strange people. He stops at the house of a very rich man who has a harem. When he plays his music, the house guards do aerobics to it; also the women in the harem salute Ashik by firing automatic weapons! Later Ashik must deal with an evil Sultan who likes to feed people to his tiger.
The film is very colorful, as it interfaces medieval paintings with reenactments of weddings and other rituals. There is plenty of humor, most of it done very well.
It would be nice if I could recommend this to general audiences, but there are some things that prevent it. One is the editing, which is very abrupt at times. This takes some getting used to; the editing is not as smooth as in most U.S. films, but also not as choppy as say, in a typical Hong Kong film. The second potential problem is the soundtrack, which is largely ethnic music. The music is actually quite good, except when there are vocals in it. The vocals are high-pitched, resembling (but not as bad as) opera. There were times when I wanted earplugs! If you can stand the singing, you will probably find the film worthwhile.
Distribution. Currently being screened at a limited number of art houses and repertory theaters; it is being shown along with earlier films by Sergei Paradjanov.
Reviewer: Thomas E. Billings, Department of Statistics University of California, Berkeley Reviewer contact: teb@stat.Berkeley.EDU
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