Feature film
Qyz Zhibek
Sultan Khodzhikov · 1970
Synopsis
Jibek, the most beautiful girl of her clan, and Tôlegen, who has come from afar to ask for her hand, love each other and promise themselves to one another. Bekejan, a rejected suitor, does not accept it, and the old quarrels between the clans reawaken: the young man is killed on the road. Around the two families, the whole steppe takes sides, the horsemen are counted and the fathers' promises weigh on the children.
Context
The film adapts the lyrical epic that the jyrau sang and that the writer Gabit Musrepov, already author of the play, turned into a screenplay; the music is by Nurgisa Tlendiev and the costumes by the painter Gulfairus Ismailova, who also plays Jibek's mother. Khodzhikov insisted on a newcomer for the heroine, Meruert Utekesheva, against the screenwriter's advice; Assanali Ashimov makes Bekezhan more than a simple villain. In two parts and one hundred and forty-two minutes, shot along the Ili with horses, camel caravans and swans brought from a zoo, the film was seen in more than eighty countries in its first years.
Who it is for
Over two hours, in Kazakh. A grand lyrical spectacle at a slow pace, to be seen for its landscapes and songs rather than its action.
Prizes and reception
State Prize of the Kazakh SSR for the film, its screenwriter and its three leading performers; prize for art direction at the All-Union festival in Tbilisi in 1972.
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