A Kazakh cult film? Absolutely. Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s third feature film The Owners is a wild tragicomedy in which “Aki Kaurismäki meets Vincent van Gogh.” From Kaurismäki comes a minimalist, deadpan stylisation, and from van Gogh, something of his colour palette, complete with sunflowers.
It has also been dubbed as the place where “Kaurismäki meets Kafka,” so nightmarish is the plot. The story follows three orphaned siblings caught up in a horrendous inheritance battle for their late mother’s house against a corrupt policeman, his drunken criminal brother, and bureaucratic regional authorities.
12-year-old Aliya suffers from epilepsy and her teenage brother, Yerbol, is on a relentless crusade for justice. Their 25-year-old older brother John, an ex-convict, is the penniless leader of the family, destined to wind up in prison.
At the beginning of the film, high rents force the family to move from the former capital Almaty to a remote village. Akin to a revenge western, the countryside turns out to be a quintessentially “Wild East.”
The course of events makes the film a veritable Kazakh powder keg, as Yerbol’s decisions lead to grotesque conclusions through unusually successful magical realism. But in between, there’s dancing and singing!
Timo Malmi