A tragic, exotic love story

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A tragic, exotic love story

A Mongolian Tale
Opens at the Valhalla, Glebe, on March 19

Review by Francesca Davis

Set in the breathtakingly beautiful steppes of Mongolia, A Mongolian Tale is the story of two young people whose personal lives are irredeemably altered by Mongolia's changing culture.

Bayinbulag and Somiya are raised by their kind foster grandmother Nai-Nai in the way that Mongolians have lived for centuries — as shepherds in the grasslands, living in yurts. Growing up together, they develop a lifelong bond and are encouraged by their grandmother to marry.

However, Bayinbulag's father summons him to the city to study. Promising to be back in eight months, he returns after three years. Meanwhile, Somiya has become pregnant to a local rogue.

This is no great shame in traditional Mongolian society, where the population is small and children are welcomed, but Bayinbulag, newly inculcated with "modern" culture, is devastated. He leaves the heartbroken Somiya for the life of a travelling musician. His return after 13 years finds Somiya with five kids and an alcoholic partner, having given up the nomadic life.

The movie is utterly tragic and poetic. With haunting music composed by Mongolian-born popular singer Tengger, who also acts Bayinbulag, lyrics (translated) that tell of lost love and black steeds, and panoramas of sweeping green grasslands and full moons, it's a movie truly in the romantic tradition.

However, many of the points made about Mongolia's changing culture, apparently the focus of the movie, are elusive if you don't know too much about the country.

Without the publicity material, for example, I would not have known that Somiya's pregnancy is a symbol of cultural conflict, not simply an issue of Bayinbulag's wounded ego. In fact, if it's a movie about cultural conflict, its too subtle to be very illuminating. It's more about the traditional Mongolian way of life and the relationship between the three characters.

The movie is made by a Chinese director, and is based on a popular 1982 novel, Black Steed, by Zhang Cheng-Zhi. During the cultural revolution, Zhang was sent to be "re-educated" in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia. According to the director, Xie Fei, Zhang was able to see the conflict between the old traditions and modern development.

One suspects that some of this could also be seen as conflict between Mongolian and Chinese ways. Again, however, if you don't know much about Mongolian history, this would pass you by.

Nevertheless, the movie does provide a fascinating glimpse into nomadic Mongolian life, and is absolutely beautiful to watch. While the story is told through Bayinbulag's eyes, my sympathies lay with Somiya, the young woman who is rather hardly done by thanks to her prescribed gender role.

If you want to watch a tragic love story in an exotic setting or are curious about traditional Mongolian life, this is the movie for you.

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