Singapore International Film Festival 2018
The River
Language
Russian - subtitles to be advised
Cast
Zhalgas Klanov, Eric Tazabekov, Zhasulan Userbayev
Synopsis
A film of acute observation and precision, The River tells the story of a cocooned family: five young sons, their mother and their strict father, living isolated from the modern world. The oldest, Aslan, is his father’s deputy, in charge of delegating tasks to his younger brothers. Fair and humane, Aslan sympathises with his siblings when they err, and accepts his father’s blame for them. He takes his brothers to a nearby river for a swim, away from the piercing paternal gaze.
One day a visitor arrives at their village and unintentionally opens the door to the outside world. This disruption upends everything, as the rural values embodied by the patriarch suddenly collide with the 21st century.