I am amazed this film has got no reviews, and has such a low rating. It won the Foreign Film award at Sofia Film Festival, and for a good reason. It is profoundly moving. Upon leaving, I was left with a "Buddhist" sense of transcendence, and even confronted the director with the silly question of how close to Central Asia lake Van was. Most importantly, he answered my other question - these characters were real. The old storyteller, the sublime figure in the film, was still living and telling. Despite immediate reality. The old lady's story was also similar to the one depicted: her husband was a fighter. The picture spoke to me in the lines of imminent reality transcending the immediate. Of inner peace providing the grounds of both immediate and spiritual survival. I was stunned with the humility of the people depicted. With the culture still based on spoken word, and for that reason perhaps still existing, compellingly. In today's-world detachment, the most obvious becomes stunning - like an old storyteller borrowing the meaning of his life from traveling on, to tell the tales of fellow-journeymen. From bowing down, and meditating on the shores of lake Van. Not many words can describe the beauty of the film, and story. Just see it. And bear in mind, these people live. Today, in the same world as ours.
