COLLECTOR’S ITEM
This
version to be phased out in late 2007
DVD covers on shipped product may differ from advance art shown
here.
           \
|
Directed by Guka Omarova
An uncommonly moving feature about characters in desperate circumstances, SCHIZO
offers both a unique coming-of-age story and a sterling feature debut by director
Guka Omarova. The film concerns Mustafa, or “Schizo,” a boy not quite
15 years old, who becomes caught up in sordid adult dealings, and must struggle
to maintain his sense of beauty and right as he develops the expertise and thick
skin of a true player. Growing up in the destitute early ‘90s Kazakhstan,
and nicknamed “Schizo” for his eccentric behavior in school (for
which he also earns a drug regimen and the ominous prospect of other treatments),
the young man lives an unrewarding home life in early-’90s Kazakhstan with
his single mother and her boyfriend Sakura (a small-time hood.) The makeshift
family is poor, and the adults pay little attention to Schizo’s prospects,
except that Sakura offers Schizo a role in his own income scheme: procuring other
men who will agree to fight in an underground and illegal boxing syndicate. The
men will vie for money and cars, but few will ever win, and some are horribly
injured. Already toughened by life, Schizo takes to this work with zeal, happy
to have a little spending money. But he is taken aback when one recruit – a
young man named Ali – dies after his boxing match, entrusting a small amount
of money to Schizo, to be delivered to Ali’s girlfriend Zina.
Feeling a faint sympathy for the dead Ali, Schizo finds Zina, a somewhat older
woman, living in a small hovel on the outskirts of his town. Also living there
is someone Ali never mentioned: his young son Sanzhik, a mere toddler who finds
the new, teenage stranger intriguing. Keenly aware of Zina’s wrenching
poverty (as well as her debilitating limp), Schizo delivers Ali’s money
without initially breaking the news of his tragic death. Finally observing this
last formality, he becomes a regular visitor at Zina’s home. Much to their
mutual surprise, the three young, wounded people take on the aspect of a family
more functional than Schizo’s own. Schizo and Zina undertake a physical
relationship (especially tender, given his relative inexperience). Schizo also
develops a special bond with young Sanzhik, gradually coming to provide the stability
and warmth that his own childhood has so sorely lacked. But in his growing desire
to support Zina and Sanzhik, Schizo must raise more money, and he redoubles his
involvement with the illegal fighting operation, even recruiting an alcoholic
uncle to undergo the punishing ordeal. When the uncle’s unexpected win
foils the schemes of Sakura’s crooked boss, Schizo faces possible disaster – and
realizes that this represents calamity to his new family as well. The decisions
he makes next are both noble and wrenching.
Austere direction, stark imagery and magnificent performances (especially by
a remarkable Olzhas Nusuppaev in the title role) combine in a memorable portrait
of a vulnerable and humane young man, blossoming in the toxic soil of a devastated
country.
Kazakhstan / France / Russia / Germany
86 min. / Russian with English Subtitles
"Absolutely
one of the most beautifully photographed movies you’ll see
this year! A celebration of the strength of the human spirit!"
Howie
Green, EDGE Boston
"Imaginative
and keenly observant."
Ruthe
Stein, SF CHRONICLE
“A fascinating and exotic
adjunct to Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby. Olzhas Nussuppaev is remarkable!”
James Verniere, BOSTON HERALD
“Spectacular! 15-year-old
Olzhas Nusuppaev is a gangly, beautiful boy with copper skin and unreadable
eyes, and
he broods through this film like a sullen angel, with something of the menace
and vulnerability that made James Dean so magnetic.”
Andrew O’Hehir, SALON.COM
“[Director]
Omarova is a clear-sighted, self-confident filmmaker…She
has a painter’s eye for composition and a novelist’s
sense of character.”
A.O. Scott, THE NEW YORK
TIMES
" Stunning!"
V.A. Musetto, NY POST
“Recommended! A genuinely beguiling work!”
Bilge Ebiri, NEW YORK MAGAZINE
“Sun-seared rural Kazak's illegal boxing circuit is the setting
for this
assured first
feature ... Further evidence of contempo vibrancy in Kazak filmmaking ... Omarova
emerges as a talent to watch with SCHIZO, showing a particular knack for filming
bodies in motion ... Pleasingly pulpy story fits right in with indigenous,
Slavic tradition and current fascination with gangster fare ... Omarova evinces
a local's
keen sense of place in collaboration with production design, capturing the
scruffy locations used with a painterly eye.”
Leslie Felperin, VARIETY
“Wonderfully acted! A gripping,
understated thriller with a solid emotional undercurrent!"
Ken Fox, TV GUIDE ONLINE
“A
coming-of-age story that is sensitive and well observed.”
A.O. Scott, THE NEW YORK TIMES
"Powerful, edgy,
and with an enormously talented cast, Schizo comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!"
Svet Atanasov, DVD Talk
“Startling
film noir. The acting is first-rate throughout. The brutality of the fights
and Schizo's growing ability to outfox his enemies make for a taut and exciting
picture.”
Ray Bennett, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“Hasanbek Kidiraliev's razor-sharp photography
takes a range of grim, run-down locales and stark landscapes, and gives them
a striking,
often unexpectedly handsome clarity.”
Jonathan Romney, SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
“Visually, SCHIZO is
extraordinary."
Tom Birchenough,
THE MOSCOW TIMES
“An
austere, moving tale about a young man underestimated
by everyone except himself.”
Ty Burr, THE BOSTON GLOBE
“A stark and stylistic
hybrid of the Dardennes’ formal austerity and Terrence
Malick’s lyricism.”
Nick Schager, SLANT MAGAZINE
“A satisfying gem!”
Donald Levit, REEL TALK MOVIE REVIEWS
“Director Guka Omarova
makes a fine debut with this burly coming-of-age drama."
Shari Roman, FLAUNT MAGAZINE
“(A) distinct flavor
for time and place and unsentimental performances mark
Omarova a director to keep both eyes on. Recommended.”
GROUCHOREVIEWS.COM
“Stunning! ... a
sophisticated blend of crime thriller, coming-of-age
story and social
realism”
Jami Bernard, NY DAILY NEWS
“A transfixing, gracefully
constructed slice of realistic cinema!”
Gene Seymour, NY NEWSDAY
"This is a stirring,
solid picture that deservedly has won numerous
awards. I highly recommend it"
Gerri Garner, AMERICAN RADIO NETWORK
WINNER - BEST ACTOR
Tokyo Film Festival
WINNER - MAIN PRIZE BEST FILM
Cottbus Eastern European Film Festival
WINNER - BEST DEBUT
XV Open Film Festival “Kinotavr”,
Russia
WINNER - BEST ACTOR
Morocco Film Festival
WINNER - FIPRESCI INT'L FILM CRITICS
AWARD
Haifa (Israel) Film Festival
WINNER - BEST FILM BY A FEMALE DIRECTOR
Copenhagen Film Festival
WINNER - GRAND PRIZE
Tallinn (Estonia) International
Film Festival
 2004
Cannes International Film Festival - Un Certain Regard
2004
Toronto International Film Festival
2004
Vancouver International Film Festival
2004
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
2004
Chicago Film Festival
2004
Munich Film Festival
2004
Haifa International Film Festival
2004
Sofia International Film Festival
2004
Cottbus Film Festival of Eastern European Film
2004
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
2004
Tokyo International Film Festival
2004
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
2005
Portland International Film Festival (opening night film)
2005
Bangkok International Film Festival
2005
Rotterdam International Film Festival
2005
San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
2005
St. Paul International Film Festival
2005
Milwaukee International Film Festival
Director/Actor
interviews
Dolby
5.1/2.0 Surround Sound
Widescreen
Presentation
Scene
Selections
Coming
Attractions
Interactive
menus
Original
Russian version
with optional English, Spanish & French subtitles
|
