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| Images courtesy of Arrow Video |
Kazakh film director Adilkhan Yerzhanov first emerged in the
late 2000s with his short film Bakhytzhamal before mounting his first
feature with the adventure-fantasy film Rieltor in 2011. Often set in the barren and remote village of
Karatas, taking advantage of the vast open landscape and desert grounds, his
work reminds somewhat of the micro budget films of Blake Eckard where the desolate
setting is often populated by riff raff struggling to forage or survive on the
fringes of society if not civilization itself.
Unlike that director’s work however, Yerzhanov’s works are polished
widescreen offerings with startling effects work and a mean streak that feels
earned and naturalistic. You go into one
of his films and come out feeling somewhat battered if not broken.
In an unusual move for boutique label Arrow Video, they saw
fit to publish the director’s latest venture Steppenwolf which is a
kind of Mad Max infused dystopian hellscape loosely based on real world
events while sneakily including his 2022 action-western Goliath tucked
away in the extras section with both films housed on one disc. Distinctly Eastern European and from
legendary Ukrainian film producer and director Alexander Rodnyansky, these brutal,
relentless yet distinctly Kazakh action-thrillers paint a portrait of the
country as a land where survival of the fittest is the rule of law. With both films starring Berik Aytzhanov as a
grizzled beaten bearded character who emerges as a formidable antagonist, Arrow’s
two-film set by Adilkhan Yerzhanov represents dystopian Kazakh action cinema
with an iron spiked fist that frankly looks like a real-world Mad Max come
to feral angry bloody life.
With the first film Goliath (again, hidden in the special
features section) we’re drawn into an ensemble spaghetti western infused saga involving
a stuttering poor man named Arzu (Berik Aytzhanov) trying to protect his
daughter after a crime boss named Poshayev (Daniyar Alshinov) wipes out his
whole village killing his wife in the process.
Soon Poshayev and his crew take Arzu under his wing, dragging him along
their exploits until gradually, eventually, Arzu begins to reemerge as an
avenger with his own subset of scores to settle. Featuring text quotes throughout (printed in
English) by Machiavelli, a late appearance by Russian actress Aleksandra
Revenko of Silver Skates, pristine digital widescreen photography by
recurring collaborator Aydar Sharipov and an evocative electronic score by Galymzhan
Moldanazar, Goliath is a one-of-a-kind spaghetti western set in the
heart of Kazakhstan whose vastness only fuels the intensity of the saga
unfolding.
Two years later, Yerzhanov is back at it again with the
titular Steppenwolf prominently starring Berik Aytzhanov this time as
the principal antagonist who winds up becoming an avenger putting forth some dogged
measure of justice in a broken Hellscape.
Loosely based on real world events connected to the January 2022 Kazakh
unrest or January Tragedy following a spike in gasoline prices, the violent
unrest and crackdowns emerging from peaceful protests resulted in the deaths of
227 people while another 9,900 were arrested.
Somewhere in this feral omniverse resides a nameless former police
investigator played by Berik Aytzhanov whose station is besieged by rioting and
violence. Amid the chaos and death is Tamara
(Anna Starchenko) a stuttering young woman shell shocked by wartime trauma desperately
searching for her missing son Timka.
Despite the dangers to herself and abusiveness of the ex-cop turned
brutal avenger, she presses on as the two embark on a cross-country sojourn
through the war-torn villages seeking some form of closure.
Lensed in panoramic widescreen by Yerkinbek Ptyraliyev who
also shot Yerzhanov’s The Owners and again scored by Galymzhan
Moldanazar in a soundtrack that sounds a lot like Nicolas Winding Refn’s work
with College A Real Hero leanings, Steppenwolf is not so much
interested in making grand statements about the civil unrest hitting the
country as it is in telling a simple story of two broken characters navigating
it. While frequently sadistic and
brutal, including a scene of a hammer smashing a hand that will make Drive fans
wince and a lot of realistic looking squib effects shots you are unlikely to
try doing here anymore, Steppenwolf also aligns itself with the
spaghetti western vibes and George Miller dystopia of Goliath. The story of a mildly amused warrior who
doesn’t seem to really care if you or he lives or dies whose own behavior
begins to affect that of Tamara’s, the film is anchored by the performances of
Aytzhanov and Anna Starchenko who is gradually pushed and kicked into becoming
an avenger herself.
Both movies distinctly Eastern European yet infused with
overtly Western vibes and amoral feral characters who will eat another animal
to protect their own, Arrow Video’s package of two films comes housed with
plentiful extras including an audio commentary by culture critic David Flint, a
video essay by Lee Broughton, a behind-the-scenes featurette, reversible sleeve
art and an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring extensive interviews with
the cast and crew. Newcomers to Kazakh
cinema will be taken aback but also will delight in the Eastern European take
on the Western action meat grinder featuring a bold, wholly original new face
of action cinema in Berik Aytzhanov. While
some detractors complain the director doesn’t try to make any bold statements
about the events unfolding, by focusing instead on the characters the
distinctly Kazakh horror stories take on a universal appeal and further help
usher in Adilkhan Yerzhanov as an important new voice in world cinema to keep
an eye out for. Bumpy and bruising but
also very much a journey you may feel inclined to take again.
--Andrew Kotwicki
