Amir Karakulov – Razluchnitsa AKA A Woman Between Two Brothers (1991)
The Cinema of Soviet Kazakhstan 1925–1991: An Uneasy Legacy
Quote:
Razluchnitsa is, first and foremost, a two-faceted love story: about the love between men and women, and about the love between siblings. The violent removal of the one person who disturbs the peace in the brothers’ home seems to happen with the quiet approval of both Adil and Rustem. This gives the story, which for two-thirds of the film resembles a late 1950s’ French nouvelle vague picture, an unexpected edge. Even the title appears in a paradoxical light: normally, the word “razluchnitsa” refers to a woman who is loved by a married man who then leaves his wife and family to be with her (the English translation is “homewrecker”). But the young woman in Karakulov’s film threatens a home by trying to destroy the close relationship between two siblings. For the viewer, it is impossible to grasp the emotional depth of the brothers, since both habitually hide all emotions behind a stone-faced exterior; as a matter of fact, in several scenes Adil’s face is made to look like an ancient bronze mask. For the audience, a highly level of focus is vital due to the irrelevance of dialogues and the importance of minutiae: if the viewer misses even a small detail, an essential element of the story may go missing as well.
The film’s narrative rhythm is slow, supported by a free-jazz- inspired score, but under this relaxed surface lurk explosive passions.In the two opening episodes, Rustem teaches Adil rhythmic movements. They are in the middle of nowhere, an unspecified wilderness, and their movements are accompanied by a drumbeat. Then, Rustem teaches his brother an exotic-sounding song, obviously pointing to some deep-seated urge. The complex chemistry between family bond and erotic passion, between kin loyalty and sexual drive, is presented as a clash of two elementary powers: Elya was playing with fire without realizing it. The Razluchnitsa’s score brings together three types of music: exotic drums, opera arias (particularly Bellini, sung by Maria Callas), and Free Jazz (mostly trumpet and saxophone), i.e., a primordial, a classical, and a modern dimension. A similar combination would be featured in Ermek Shinarbaev’s Spot on a Grey Tripod just a few years later; classical music, meanwhile, would play an even more essential role in Karakulov’s own Don’t Cry (2002).
– Peter Rollberg
[edited to avoid spoilers]
Razluchnica.1991.TVRip.fenixclub.avi General Container: AVI Runtime: 1 h 21 min Size: 745 MiB Video Codec: XviD Resolution: 688x512 Aspect ratio: 4:3 Frame rate: 25.000 fps Bit rate: 1 147 kb/s BPP: 0.130 Audio #1: 2.0ch MP3 @ 128 kb/s
https://nitro.download/view/CCFAA415FE02A5D/Razluchnica.1991.TVRip.fenixclub.avi
https://nitro.download/view/B0ED486CA7A75C3/Razluchnitsa.en.srt
Language(s):Russian
Subtitles:English
