Absurdistan (2008)

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

In a forgotten village in the middle of nowhere, the aging population faces a problem: lack of water. The old men are too lazy to solve the problem, and the young leave town to seek a solution but never come back. A young man, who is in love with a girl in town, must solve this problem in order to marry her. He works on that, while the rest of the village fights the classical war of the sexes. The protagonist is very charismatic. He is naive, intelligent and persistent. Since a very early age he creates ludicrous inventions, being completely different from the rest of the people in the town. He completely ignores the war and confusion going on around him, focused only in his objectives: to solve the lack of water problem. Even his girlfriend gets involved in the disputes, believing he also is involved, and adding to the pressure for a solution. A lot of funny things happen in the city, while the women try to force their husbands to work out the problem and the men try to avoid it.

I liked the idea of the story, as its is basically much like a famous Play based on an the old Greek Legend, where the women hold off sexual favours top prevent there men form going off to war.The village & its people reminded me of the small village 'Chelm' featured in a few stories by Sholem Aleichem.(Fiddler on the Roof was based on one of his tales). This film is no relation to that classic.The first part of the movies was very enjoyable,then tedium set in. Questions in my mind arose. (SPOILER ALERT)What happened to all the other young people?How come nearly all the of the adults were far from being even somewhat good looking?The film runs only 84 minutes long but the last 30 or so minutes drags on & on.The 2 young leads were good.The movie played in no more than 3 theatres in the US early in 2009. The sets are realistic, I just wish I was able to appreciate it more.Ratings: **1/2 (out of 4) 72 points(out of 100) IMDb 6(out of 10)

This is a delightful film, and left me with a smile on my face that lasted quite some time. Like all good comedy, it must not be taken too seriously, though it deals with some very serious issues indeed. Even if the film was made in Azerbaijan, the story is certainly not 'about' a Muslim country as such, of whatever style. One of the couples does have a large picture of a mosque above the marital bed, but some scenes are in what appears to be a Christian church, albeit devoid of overt symbols, and, in one, some of the women cross themselves with holy water. But these references to religion are incidental: the film is not to be interpreted in realistic terms. It is allegorical and is simply about people, no matter where they live. A jaunty score nicely reinforces the comedic mood.

This feature was filmed in Azerbaijan. This is remarkable since the main theme of the story involves sex, and in a Muslim country, this type of movie is definitely frowned upon. The story surrounds a young couple, Ava and Temelko. They are madly in love and have been told by her fortune-telling grandmother the night they may consummate their relationship. However, before the special night arrives, they run into problems as the lazy men of the town they inhabit have not performed any maintenance on the town's water pipes and they have broken. The women are fed up with having to do without water and go on "strike"...no water, no sex. The movie reminds me a little of "The Gods Must Be Crazy;" silly and slapstick humor along with a little more subtle humor underneath. The performances of Kristyna Malerova and Max Mauff were sympathetic and amusing.To the reviewer below, I got my "facts" from the director of the film at the screening I attended...I was just repeating what I heard. I took the man (and the others involved in the film who agreed with him) at his word, and I think you are taking this commentary just a tad too seriously.