Sochi Fest

Baksy

 (Russia-Kazakhstan-France-Germany)

By LESLIE FELPERIN

A Film Co. CTB (Russia)/Kazakhfilm (Kazakhstan)/Les Petites Lumieres (France)/Kinofabrika (Germany) production, in association with Cinetools Film, Caspian Beverage Holding. (International sales: Fortissimo Films, Amsterdam.) Produced by Sergei Bodrov, Sergei Selianov, Anar Kashaganova, Natasha Devillers. Co-producers, Malik Esenbaev, Almat Akhmetov. Directed by Guka Omarova. Screenplay, Sergei Bodrov, Omarova.
 
With: Neisipkul Omarbekova, Farkhat Amankulov, Almat Ayanov, Tolepbergen Baisakalov, Asel Abutova, Nurlan Alimzhanov, Toktar Beksenov, Sayat Merekenov, Olzhas Nusuppaev. Russian, Kazak dialogue.
 

An aged femme shaman, gangsters and assorted innocents are thrown together in Kazakhstan-set drama "Baksy," helmer Guka Omarova's fluent sophomore outing. Although slightly less resonant than her similarly noir-inflected debut, "Schizo," the latest pic pulls off the same trick of making well-worn crime plotting look entirely natural within its Central Asian setting. Pic will definitely enjoy fest play, but the chances of "Baksy" securing wide distribution don't look any better than they did for "Schizo," which had a limited release Stateside and in a handful of Euro territories in 2005.

Wily and spry, but apparently as old as the windswept hills she lives beside, Aidai (Neisipkul Omarbekova) is a shaman, or baksy, in the local lingo. Endowed with psychic powers, she lives in a remote compound where visitors come in search of lost things, people or spiritual healing. Invariably, Aidai's predictions are correct, her healing powers the real deal, and the pic never questions the reality of supernatural forces in this contempo setting.

Some clients stay on to help Aidai out. Ten-year-old boy Asan (Almat Ayanov) is still living with Aidai after she cured him of his grief in the wake of his mother's death; the boy's father, businessman Batir (Farkhat Amankulov), who actually owns the ground the campsite's on, visits often.

Wanting to build a gas station and roadhouse on the campsite, super-smooth gangster Arman (Nurlan Alimzhanov) pressures Batir to sell the land, but he resists out of loyalty to Aidai. Nevertheless, Arman bribes cops into threatening to arrest the shaman. Rather than surrendering, Aidai wills her own heart to stop, although she miraculously resurrects later that day in the morgue and walks out.

About halfway through, the script, co-written by Omarova and Russian helmer Sergei Bodrov ("Mongol"), turns down the volume on the mysticism and ups the thriller element when Arman kidnaps Asan. Editing ratchets up the tension as Batir and Co. must either raise the ransom or find the hiding place, and the action incorporates scenes in the gritty, mean streets of Almaty, Kazakhstan's capital.

These urban sequences make a refreshing change from the continual emphasis on spectacular local scenery one finds in most Kazakh-set cinema. Indeed, Omarova and lenser Rafik Gallev don't rely on long shots for effect as much as one would expect, opting for tighter compositions that emphasize the people in the frame and their relationships. It's only when Aidai climbs the hills to her summon their magical powers, wailing on the summit and spinning around like a demented Kazakh version of Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music," does one get a sense of the synergy between character and environment.  

Brisk running time is just right, and other craft contributions are pro.

Camera (color), Rafik Gallev; editor, Dasha Danilova; music, Zig; production designer, Almagul Menlibaeva; costume designer, Mabinte van de Belt; sound (Dolby Digital), Vladimir Golounin. Reviewed at Sochi Open Russian Film Festival (competing), June 14, 2008. Running time: 87 MIN.