A Kyrgyz hunter trades his rifle for revolution in this gorgeous, forgotten Soviet epic.
The end of the 1920s — the beginning of the 1930s in Kyrgyzstan. Parts of the Red Army are waging an uncompromising struggle with basmachi in Central Asia. The film tells about the formation of the character of the young Kyrgyz hunter Djura, who found himself in a swirling whirlpool of revolutionary events that swept the Pamirs. It shows the hard way from a simple young hunter, entangled in centuries of prejudice, to a conscious, seasoned in many battles with the Basmachi mature fighter, who believed in the great ideas of the revolution.
Cinematography
Breathtaking Pamir landscapes that swallow the characters whole.
Direction
Bergunker makes Soviet propaganda feel surprisingly intimate.
Acting
Asanbayev's transformation from naive hunter to hardened fighter.
Director
Adolf Bergunker
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot on location in the Tian Shan mountains, where temperatures plunged to -30°C; several crew members suffered frostbite during the winter sequences.
The basmachi resistance depicted here was historically complex—anti-Soviet but also anti-colonial—yet the film reduces them to bandits, a narrative that served Moscow's Central Asian consolidation.
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