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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
 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
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
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