Kardiogramma
Kazakhstan,
1995, 73 min
Shown in 1996
CREDITS
- dir
-
Darezhan Omirbaev
- prod
-
Natl. Film Studio of Kazakhfilm
- scr
-
Darezhan Omirbaev
- cam
-
Boris Trosher
- editor
-
Maria Surhorukova
- cast
-
Jonathon Asauov, Serik Toubandykov, Saule Tahtybaeva, Gulnara Dusmatova
- source
-
National Film Co. of Kazakhstan
- premiere
-
North American Premiere
OTHER
In Europe before the Middle Ages, the Roman Empire succeeded in imposing Latin as the official language. In a later time, Russia accomplished a similar feat, and Russian became the language in which trade, politics and the arts were conducted over a vast area sometimes called “one-sixth of the world.” The situation has, perhaps inevitably, changed only gradually. Since the USSR’s collapse, for example, films exported from newly independent nations of the former empire are no longer dubbed into Russian, as was almost always the case a decade ago. Still, Russian remains the predominant language, especially in cities. Cardiogram introduces us to Jasulan, the 12-year-old son of a Central Asian shepherd, who falls ill and is sent for treatment from his home in the lonely steppes to the Kazakh capital, Almaty (known as Alma-Ata in Soviet days). There he finds himself unable to communicate with either children or adults. This beautifully made, almost wordless film, depicts movingly—although without any sentimentality—the plight of this provincial boy who suddenly finds himself in the big city, though the “big city” will look rather different to Western eyes. In portraying so well the weight of his solitude, it succeeds in nudging the viewer to imagine other similar stories unfolding close to each of us every day. The film was honored in Europe with the Special Jury Prize at the Nantes (France) Film Festival and the UNESCO Award at Venice.
FACTOID #147
The Coppola clan (Francis, Eleanor, Sofia and Roman) is the family with the most filmmakers represented at the Festival. Films screened include Apocalypse Now (1990); One from the Heart (1990); Lick the Star (1998); The Virgin Suicides (2000); CQ (2002); and On the Set of CQ (2002). (And that’s not even counting onscreen appearances by cousins Nic Cage and Jason Schwartzman.)
