Kelin

[pro-bassoonist]

Ermek Tursunov's Kelin (2009) has received a preliminary release date for the Gallic markets: April 20. The film was Kazakhstan's official Oscar entry in the Foreign Language Film category.

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Hollywood Reporter:

Betrayal, lust, murder and revenge unfold wordlessly and compellingly among the snows of the Kazakh Steppe in the directorial debut of journalist-screenwriter Ermek Tursunov. "Kelin" has the feel of an epic tale passed down the generations through oral tradition yet the director brilliantly turns this notion on its head by eliminating all dialogue and using very little music. He intelligently trusts audiences to grasp the universality of the story even when watching rituals and customs foreign to them.

The film's provenance and the fact that it is virtually silent (save the occasional grunts and the sounds of nature) almost certainly relegates it to just festivals. Yet it heralds the arrival of a new director from a virtually unknown part of the world, who is capable of marrying high production values with innovative storytelling and a surprisingly modern feel.

The film opens with the young, listless and beautiful Kelin (which actually means daughter-in-law) being prepared for her arranged wedding. Her true love has lost out to a richer suitor (who offered more silver coins and a bigger fur coat for her), but not before binding himself to her through a blood oath.

Adorned in sumptuous headgear and dress, Kelin is taken far away, on an ox, to her husband's house, to live with, presumably, his elderly mother and younger brother. Despite being forced into the marriage, she discovers that he is not such a bad catch after all, along with the joys of sex. Domestic bliss does not last long, however, as her first love comes looking for revenge, triggering a series of dramatic events.

Like with any epic tale of romance, audiences must give themselves over to it, which is easy to do in "Kelin." In Tursunov's capable hands this human melodrama is a visual and lyrical feast whose emotions are stripped to the very essence and are never overly sentimental.

Tursunov goes even further, giving the protagonist an active sexuality that after a while makes her no victim of her circumstances. Young and curious, she is simply caught in a remote, ancient community still very much governed by external forces and rites.

While the community is one few Westerners have ever heard of, Tursunov is sure that we will nevertheless recognize ourselves in it. And we do, in the impeccable cast whose silence speaks volumes and whose desires and actions are more than comprehensible. Even those rituals we do not immediately understand soon become clear in the story's context.

Cinematographer Murat Aliyev never treats the stunning snow-covered landscapes as folkloric postcards of a little-known region or people. On the contrary, he even extracts warmth from them, showing the characters' surroundings as bristling with life and color.

Pro-B

[Immersion]

I see this one has been recently released (17th August) https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Kelin-Blu-ray/10607/

Has anyone ordered or bought this, and can anyone comment on the quality of the release? I have a DVD version and was curious about the BD. It is from a French label, but luckily there is no dialogue in the film so no subtitles required.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by Immersion

I see this one has been recently released (17th August) https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Kelin-Blu-ray/10607/

Has anyone ordered or bought this, and can anyone comment on the quality of the release? I have a DVD version and was curious about the BD. It is from a French label, but luckily there is no dialogue in the film so no subtitles required.

This thread deserved a bump.

Kelin Blu-ray Review

I have ordered this and am very, very intrigued by it. It seems a shame it has been largely ignored everywhere else in the world so far.

[The Duke]

Yes, the review has me very interested in picking up a copy. Did you order your copy from Amazon.fr? I have is my cart, but it says "usually ships in 3 or 4 weeks", so I was waiting to perhaps combine it with an order for Shakespeare in Love, which releases 11 January. I even checked eBay, and all I could find was a US importer that wants $52 for it - but at least the shipping is free.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by The Duke

Yes, the review has me very interested in picking up a copy. Did you order your copy from Amazon.fr? I have is my cart, but it says "usually ships in 3 or 4 weeks", so I was waiting to perhaps combine it with an order for Shakespeare in Love, which releases 11 January. I even checked eBay, and all I could find was a US importer that wants $52 for it - but at least the shipping is free.

Yes I ordered from Amazon.fr. Even with the current weather delays, I doubt it will take 3-4 weeks. That's just a usual "worst case scenario" tactic that the Amazon sites use.

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Yes I ordered from Amazon.fr. Even with the current weather delays, I doubt it will take 3-4 weeks. That's just a usual "worst case scenario" tactic that the Amazon sites use.

Well, in my experience the Amazon Europe sites use extended delivery estimates to cover their behind. Actually, I'm currently waiting for the 2nd package from the same order from Amazon UK. They shipped both packages on Nov. 21 and I received the 1st package Nov. 27, but they're making me wait until the Dec. 13 delivery estimate to report the 2nd package as not received (1st time ever I didn't get shipment from Amazon UK). But when they say "usually ships in xxx", it means they don't have any in stock and they hope to get more stock sometime in the near future, but they don't really know.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by The Duke

and all I could find was a US importer that wants $52 for it - but at least the shipping is free.

DeeVeeDee is a great online store mainly for just checking what new import blu-ray/dvd just came out. I wouldn't ever buy any blu-rays from him though since he charges about 15 bucks more than any other site.

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Yes I ordered from Amazon.fr. Even with the current weather delays, I doubt it will take 3-4 weeks. That's just a usual "worst case scenario" tactic that the Amazon sites use.

If you don't mind my asking, has Amazon.fr shipped this yet? Amazon.fr is still showing "usually ships in 2-4 weeks". I was considering ordering it from fnac.com as they were showing shipping in 3-4 days, but today they changed that to 4-8 days, and raised the price to 42.99 euro. (I think it was 24.99)

[rich_adamson]

Originally Posted by The Duke

If you don't mind my asking, has Amazon.fr shipped this yet? Amazon.fr is still showing "usually ships in 2-4 weeks". I was considering ordering it from fnac.com as they were showing shipping in 3-4 days, but today they changed that to 4-8 days, and raised the price to 42.99 euro. (I think it was 24.99)

They haven't shipped mine yet. The other part of my order shipped right away, but this gives an estimate of Dec. 30th for dispatch.

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by rich_adamson

They haven't shipped mine yet. The other part of my order shipped right away, but this gives an estimate of Dec. 30th for dispatch.

Thanks for the response. I'm going to go ahead and order it from Amazon.fr, I have a feeling this is going to be one of the very limited French blu-ray releases that goes out of print quickly.

[rich_adamson]

Originally Posted by The Duke

Thanks for the response. I'm going to go ahead and order it from Amazon.fr, I have a feeling this is going to be one of the very limited French blu-ray releases that goes out of print quickly.

I kind of get that feeling too. I certainly hope thats not the case, but if it does happen, I certainly will be glad to have picked up a copy while it was available. (If it ever ships that is, lol)

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by rich_adamson

They haven't shipped mine yet. The other part of my order shipped right away, but this gives an estimate of Dec. 30th for dispatch.

Originally Posted by The Duke

Thanks for the response. I'm going to go ahead and order it from Amazon.fr, I have a feeling this is going to be one of the very limited French blu-ray releases that goes out of print quickly.

Originally Posted by rich_adamson

I kind of get that feeling too. I certainly hope thats not the case, but if it does happen, I certainly will be glad to have picked up a copy while it was available. (If it ever ships that is, lol)

Indeed, mine has not shipped yet, either.

I, too, have a feeling that this may go OOP due to a lack of interest, and the fact that Emylia seems like one of the smaller French distributors. It is a shame that more English-language reviewers are not picking this up, in order to give the release more exposure.

[The Duke]

I lucked out and got a copy from an Ebay seller in Germany for just under $35 shipped (the French release).

He just had the one copy or I'd post a link.

[McCrutchy]

Finally received my copy today. Note that Amazon.fr still says 2-4 weeks for new copies; perhaps this was only pressed in a small quantity.

[Immersion]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Finally received my copy today. Note that Amazon.fr still says 2-4 weeks for new copies; perhaps this was only pressed in a small quantity.

Thanks for the update, I remember trying to find other retailers who stocked the BD, but I didn't find a single one. So as you say, it must be a very limited pressing, possibly limited to Amazon alone?

[McCrutchy]

I have screened my copy earlier tonight. I will need to watch the film again before I can fully comment, but my initial reaction is that Svet is correct in his description of the film as "an instant epic". It is profoundly affecting in its simplicity, and it deserves to have a much bigger audience. Certainly one of my best Blu-ray purchases of 2010.

[toddly6666]

What an awesome moving movie. Great!

Thanks again McCrutchy!

[The Duke]

Got my copy from the EU eBay seller yesterday and watched it last night. What a terrific film! One of those rare films that fully immerses you into the story and makes you feel a part of it. Wonderful cinematography and a top notch blu-ray transfer. This may sound a little odd, but I have a wonderful mixed breed dog I adopted from an animal shelter. When I watch a movie in the home theater she normally climbs up on the sofa next to me, watches a bit of the film, and then usually quickly dozes off. With Kelin, her eyes were glued to the screen throughout the entire film, and I had to reassure her all was well in the couple of scenes with wolves. That's what I mean when I say it fully immerses you into the story and makes you feel a part of it.

BTW, I see Amazon.fr has this back in stock, highly recommended.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by The Duke

With Kelin, her eyes were glued to the screen throughout the entire film, and I had to reassure her all was well in the couple of scenes with wolves.

That's just awesome!

[HyperRealist]

Seller "lostar_" has it for 5.99 Euros at Amazon France. I ordered one shipped to US for $22.51 USD. They had 5 left.
http://www.amazon.fr/gp/offer-listin...&condition=new