Baavgai Bolohson

In a one-room ger in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, lives lanky teenager Ulzii; his widowed, alcoholic mother; and his three siblings. His mother is unable to earn enough to feed all her children and it falls to Ulzii to supplement the family income by doing odd-jobs - unloading a van or delivering meat, for example. But he has a special, intuitive talent for physics, and an inspirational schoolteacher suggests he enter the national physics competition (yes, such things exist - introducing the film at the 2023 London Film Festival, editor Alexandra Strauss explained that although this film is a work of fiction, it is based on a documentary). If Ulzii wins, he will get a scholarship. But with all of his family responsibilities, can he put in the time required for study?

For Western audiences, a film from Mongolia is a rare treat. As well as the central plotline, the film also provides a look at modern Mongolia, where ancient traditions meld with today's way of life: in one scene Ulzii is sent to visit his aunt in her modern, high-rise flat in order to place his big toe in his infant nephew's mouth - this, apparently, is a sure-fire way to cure a facial rash. As the film progresses (writer/director Zoljargal Purevdash cleverly marking the passage of time by every so often changing Ulzii's hairstyle) we see Mongolian teenagers acting like teenagers anywhere: play-fighting, playing sports, lusting after a pair of stylish trainers.

The adventures of a physics student does not sound like a promising subject for a film and it is interesting to speculate whether this film would have worked if it were set in the UK or US; I suspect not. But set in a country that rarely features in Western entertainment, it works a treat.

I saw this film today at the Braunschweig International Film Festival and I was deeply moved.

The story is about the self chosen responsibility of a boy for his two younger siblings because their widowed mother could not feed them. When he realized that her mother wants to move them back to the countryside, he spoke up for himself and the two younger siblings because he saw the importance of going to school.

Left alone by the mother, he is torn between earning money, going to school and caring for his younger siblings. The film shows the daily difficulties surviving in a yurt even when there is little heat and little to eat. A wonderful film with excellent characters.

In a city well lit and dotted with numerous hilltop communication masts, we meet the young "Ulzii" (Battsooj Uurtsaikh) who is living quite a contrasting existence with his mother and three siblings in a yurt than has an one-ring electric cooker and a coal burning stove. He is a gifted physics student whose teacher (Batzorig Sukhbaatar) is trying to coax him to enter a competition and focus more on his studies, but it's increasingly clear that this young man is very much the breadwinner. His recently widowed mother reverts to the bottle when things get tough and yearns to return to the rural, herding, life she had lived before marriage. Their's is a tempestuous relationship, and when things come to an head she takes their youngest away, whilst he and the elder children remain to keep up with their schooling. What follows now sees young "Ulzii" forced to make tough choices as he must reconcile the needs of his family with the time and effort he needs to put into his studies. A lack of coal, wood and a infection in his brother that he can't afford to medicate force him to take a path that addresses the immediacy of their needs but what of his future? I thought Uurtsaikh did well here, juggling the aspirations of a young boy who wanted to be just that, with his responsibilities as a de facto father. The actors portraying the siblings work well too, creating a sense of a family unit - they all share the same small bed - that does care for each other and all want to help. The conditions are bleak. Somehow the harsh cold always looks worse amidst an urban landscape where we are offered enough of a pretty stark comparison between even the most modest of city dwellings and his family's semi-rural existence on the outskirts. It is intense at times, but it is also quite funny too. Who knew the cure for a mouth ulcer involved a saddle-bit and a big toe? It is his younger brother who comes up with the idea of hibernating, and if I'd been there I think I would have agreed.

First of all, i think this is the first ever Mongolian film that represented actual reality of Mongolian suburb life which is below average living family. As of my perspective, some people do not aware of the situation of other people's living situation because they never had a chance to experience those situations even if we live under same society, government and country. Maybe this film will give people an inspiration and to being grateful for what they have now.

The slangs, it is pretty disturbing i would say but it is not fake at all. The way this film is just being the mirror of reality but not focused on make people like some other mediocre movies.

Raw and real, i will say.

Cinematography decent, phasing great, story not half bad. Use of Mise-en scene and Chekhov's gun are non existent. Things just tend to happen. Much of the dramatic aspects are just told or has no impact, obviously because it was never built upon. Some concepts are hard for foreign audience to understand. To the director and writer of this film: SHOW NOT TELL!

Since it's director's first feature film it's decent better than what's coming out today in Mongolian film industry. But it's not great achievement or whatever most people say it is. Honestly it would be shameful if this film was ever to be applied to Academic awards.