Luna Papa

Luna Papa (1999)

Runtime: 107 minutes

Directed by: Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov

Starring: Chulpan Khamatova, Moritz Bleibtreu, Ato Mukhamedzhanov, Merab Ninidze

From: Many different companies

This is way different from me. This movie is listed as being from EIGHT different countries on the IMDb: Tajikistan, Germany, Japan, Austria, Switzerland, France, Russia, and Uzbekistan. As it was filmed in and the director is from Tajikistan, that's why I listed it first and consider it its main country of origin. It's online on YouTube in a subbed version so I was interested in seeing something from a country that even I couldn't locate specifically on a map. It's not like the person on Letterboxd I follow who has seen films this month from places like Haiti, Nepal, and Samoa, but I am happy with the variety I've seen this month, even if I was disappointed with a film or two.

The Letterboxd review is below and I'll return tomorrow afternoon.

Yes, I am reviewing a film that IMDb lists as from being 8 different countries. However, as the director is from and it was filmed in Tajikistan, that's why I listed it first. I will be honest and admit that before today even I could not have found the country on a map; I knew the general location but those former Soviet Union areas that became their own country are a little fuzzy to me. Anyhow, I was definitely interested in seeing a film from such an obscure place.

The plot: We follow a teenage girl-Mamlakat-who has a father (but no mother) and has to take care of an older brother named Nasreddin who at first I was worried about as he came off like a Simple Jack mentally handicapped person who was always that way. Turns out, he was a soldier but a lane mine almost killed him and did obvious brain damage, so... it's not as cringe-worthy as I first feared. Mamlakat is interested in acting and she happens to meet one from a traveling troupe. That dude says he knows TOM CRUISE (really) and she falls for it, and becomes pregnant. Note that they “did it” outside in the dark so she doesn't even know his identity. The trio attempt to find that actor (as the father of the unborn child being unknown is a shameful thing), and wackiness ensues.

Me, I was most interested in seeing what Tajikistan looked like, its customs, music, etc. As I know so little about the place, that seemed most appropriate. Well, it looks like an interesting country. It looks like a lot of desert with some mountains but the music was different and there are such customs as people on a random small boat finding the protagonists stuck on a bridge due to vehicle trouble and the guys on the boat sell them some clothes. That I understand; why you see some women dressed up like fruit and dancing in random buildings amongst random people... that I cannot explain!

That's not the only odd moment in this daffy comedy-drama which has its share of surrealistic moments, especially the ending. Also, the movie demonstrates that the country at this time still had a bunch of cars that looked decades old driving about, and there were rebel forces that you saw cause trouble; I understand that was true to life at the time in the country.

The dad being a controlling angry person isn't my favorite stereotype but I tried to ignore that (admittedly he wasn't always like that and despite some frustration Mamlakat does care about her brother) and I was amused-and bemused-by this movie, for the most part. Surrealistic movies aren't always my bag but overall I can rate this as 3 stars and will try to learn more about that area in general so I am not so ignorant about it.