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Year One
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Tulpan
Universal acclaim
Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 21 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by:
Sergey Dvortsevoy
Gennady Ostrovskiy
Directed by: Sergey Dvortsevoy
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 1, 2009
DVD: September 22, 2009
Running Time: 100 minutes, Color
Origin: Germany | Kazakhstan | Poland | Russia | Switzerland
Language(s): Kazakh | Russian
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Askhat Kuchinchirekov, Samal Yeslyamova, Ondasyn Besikbasov, and Tulepbergen Baisakalov
Following his Russian naval service, young dreamer Asa returns to his sister’s nomadic brood on the desolate Hunger Steppe to begin a hardscrabble career as a shepherd. But before he can tend a flock of his own, Asa must win the hand of the only eligible bachelorette for miles—his alluringly mysterious neighbor Tulpan. Accompanied by his girlie mag-reading sidekick Boni (and a menagerie of adorable lambs, stampeding camels, mewing kittens and mischievous children), Asa will stop at nothing to prove he is a worthy husband and herder. (Zeitgeist Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Village Voice J. Hoberman
In every respect, this unclassifiable movie is an amazing accomplishment.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
If you see only one comic love story from Kazakhstan this year, choose this prize-winning honey.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Funny, fascinating, utterly unclassifiable film.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
I swear to you that if you live in a place where this film is playing, it is the best film in town.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
What makes Tulpan remarkable are the extended unbroken scenes, both dramatic and comic.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Might be described as an epic landscape film, a sweetly comic coming-of-age story or a lyrical work of social realism. But the setting -- a windswept, sparely populated steppe in southern Kazakhstan -- gives the movie a mood that sometimes feels closer to that of science fiction.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
The filmmaker's documentary training pays off in detail after detail.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
In the tradition of ethnographic dramas from "Nanook of the North" to "The Fast Runner," Tulpan drops us in the middle of a godforsaken nowhere and marvels at the people who live there.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Stan Hall
Sergei Dvortsevoy's unclassifiable, verite-style film (shaky-cam alert!) is an endearing mix of intimacy, attention to detail and decidedly local humor.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
A beautifully choreographed and photographed story about tradition and modernity in rural Asia.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
This is a difficult film to pigeonhole, an indefinable mixture of genres and attitudes that is by turns off-the-wall and serious, comic and sad.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
The acting and story are solid, but the real star of Tulpan is the gorgeous, never-ending landscape -- flat and arid, and home to camels, goats and lambs, and hearty people who live in tentlike yurts.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Tamara Straus
A tender, unforgettable comedy about a vanishing way of life.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Dan Kois
To certain serious world-cinema aficionados, though, Tulpan's combination of understated comedy and documentary-level depiction of rural Kazakh life will be catnip.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
A winner of the Cannes film festival's Un Certain Regard prize, this stayed with me, though I wasn't always happy to stay with it; the incessant braying of sheep, camels, and children may send you racing from the theater in search of the nearest martini lounge.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Kevin V gave it an8:
Gorgeous in it's starkness, the cinematography was my favorite part of Tulpan. I also loved the wide range of human emotion that is expressed. The acting was tremendous and the characters are deep. What else can you ask for in a film?
Tom gave it an8:
Not for everyone I know but I found it interesting showing part of the world most of us will never see or even knew existed - I agree not much happened but to me anyway I found it worth while although couldnt recommend to most my movie loving friends.
Milan C gave it an8:
Its Unique.
Anne C gave it a6:
This movie had a very thin layer of narrative over a mostly national geographic type of look at how life is on the Hungersteppe - beautifully shot - phenomenal camera work, but go prepared for a lot of dust storms.
Tulpan S. gave it a6:
Movie should be approached as an slice of life of a far away place, as something interesting, rather than very entertaining. Fans of, say, the Transformer movies would not be satisfied with Tulpan.
Atlanta gave it a3:
Interesting documentary slice of life on the steppe. Shouldn't be viewed as entertainment. The same story & cinematography set most anywhere else would be deemed sophomoric.
Chad S. gave it a2:
Dull and uninteresting. Critics really do love to fawn over this kind of tosh but honestly the average movie going Joe will find this movie hard work. Don't bother, not even on DVD.
