From dusk to dawn The main character of the film Alim, along with his father, carries the body of his older brother, killed in the war, home to the Crimea to bury him according to Muslim tradition.
The film is made up of so many components, which for me are the features of a good movie. This is a beautiful direction (for me, this means that there are no unnecessary episodes in the film), humanistic themes (which are expressed here in respect for the deceased, the desire to bury him with dignity) and, most importantly, the topic of repentance, inner work on oneself. Alim changes from the beginning to the end of the film. A student of the Faculty of Journalism, satisfied that he does well in studying the Ukrainian language, during the trip he, thanks to Father Mustafa, delves into his family tradition, expressed in the traditional patriarchal-Muslim perception of the world. For Alim, thus, the title of the film has a double meaning - it is a road to his native Crimea and a road to himself through familiarity with the tradition of his fathers.
This path would have been impossible for Alim without respect for the Father. The authority of the father is so great that he creates in the picture a whole worldview field through which all events and events that occur on the road are interpreted. Mustafa is very religious, so for him the status of a father is a responsibility to Allah. And this responsibility is such that for Mustafa no external obstacles matter - no state, no borders, no peace, no war. With the help of Mustafa and his adherence to tradition, the film acquires its universal sound - this story could happen anywhere in the world.
The performer of the role of Mustafa, Akhtem Seytablayev, aptly denotes the social context of the story shown: “The patriarchal way of life is the only way for self-defense in conditions when you need to survive.” Let's think about those words. The way home passes through dangerous, sometimes hostile territory - Mustafa has to break some laws to keep the tradition. Mustafa directly blames the wife of the eldest son Nazim for his death. The place outside the family for Mustafa is the place of death. That's why he's so eager to bring Alim home. So the road home gets signs of flight, seen as an attempt to lock yourself in the world of people close to you. Such a perspective would not be possible in a safe place, or even a place filled with hope for favorable change. Alim is already learning to look at the world through his father’s eyes, and therefore nothing outside gives him hope: at best, it is just a distraction, like Masha calling to swim in the river, at worst – attacks and steals money.
The road home as an escape from a foreign place that took your son or brother, gradually immerses Alim and Mustafa not so much in themselves, but in their native space - the Crimean steppe remote from cities and roads. While leading Mustafa, the viewer is repeatedly shown scenes of the sunset. In the final scene, after a rough night, Alim takes over. And at that moment, the sun rises. At first it seemed to me that the film lacked hope, especially since the funerary text read by Alim (No one who tasted the drink of death will ever wake up) is not at all. But the dawn scene is probably the very hope that gives birth to another man in Alima, the very patriarchal principle that will help him survive further. It would be interesting to see Alim at the end of the film about a year after the events. As a result, before us a great rarity for modern cinema - a very conservative and patriarchal story, clothed in a beautiful visual shell.
6 out of 10
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