Darezhan Omirbaev Movies
- 2007
Love turns a woman's life upside down in this contemporary adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Chouga (Ainour Tourganbaeva) is a woman in her mid-thirties who lives in Astana, the capitol of Kazakhstan. When Chouga learns that her brother has fallen into a deep depression due to his failing marriage, she returns to her hometown of Almaty to help him deal with his troubles. In Almaty, Chouga meets Ablai (Aidos Sagatov), a handsome man several years her junior. Ablai becomes deeply infatuated with Chouga, even though she's married and he's engaged to marry Altynai (Ainour Sapargali). Ablai lures Chouga into an affair, but in time he tires of her while Chouga finds she can't go back to the life she once lived. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aïnour Tourganraeva, Aïdos Sagatov, (more)
- 2001
A filmmaker arrives at a crossroads in his life and his art when he learns his mother may be dying in this drama with comedic overtones from director Darezhan Omirbaev. Amir Kobessov (Djamshed Usmonov) is a well-respected filmmaker from Kazakhstan who, both professionally and personally, is suffering from a crisis of confidence. Amir is beginning to wonder if audiences are still interested in his work, and he has a recurring nightmare in which his latest premiere is scotched in favor of a low-budget chop-socky epic. At home, Amir and his wife are not getting along, and both are struggling to keep their marriage afloat. When Amir receives word that his mother is seriously ill, he hops in his car and sets out to visit her in the small village where he was born; along the way, Amir finds himself examining his past as he tries to come to terms with an uncertain future. Jol was screened as part of the Un Certain Regard series at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamshed Usmonov, Saul Toktybaeva, (more)
- 1998
Darezhan Omirbaev (Kairat, Kardiogramma) directed this French-Kazakh film about a young man driven to the precipice in an uncaring world. Marat (Talgat Assetov) works as a chauffeur for a well-known scientist. Driving home from the maternity hospital with his wife Aijan (Roksana Abouova) and their new baby boy, Marat is at fault during a minor traffic accident. The damage payments on both cars put him in debt. Unable to cover costs when the baby gets sick, Marat finds it necessary to follow a gangster's bidding to murder a journalist. Shown in the Certain Regard Section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Talgat Assetov, Roksana Abouova, (more)
- 1995
- R
A 12-year-old boy from the isolated steppes in Khazakstan gets his first taste of the outside world when he is sent to a children's clinic with a treatable heart condition in this Kazakh drama. While in the clinic Zhasulan meets other boys and even girls. It is there that he gets his first taste of the pain and pleasure of love when he falls for a kindly young nurse. His crush becomes a bit of an obsession and he spies on her frequently; even sneaking peeks at her through a shower-stall peephole. One day he learns that she is going out with a doctor. Later, Zhasulan stows away in a truck delivering films to other clinics and learns even more about the world. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ahasulan Asauov, Saul Toktybaeva, (more)
- 1992
In this virtually wordless story, a young man from a small Kazakh village migrates to the big city. Initially sure of himself as he travels by bus and train, he meets a young woman he feels he could easily fall in love with. Later, in the city, he sees her again quite accidentally (during a showing of Woyzeck), and realizes that he already has lost his heart to her. As his relationship with the girl blossoms, in his sleeping dreams he imagines he has returned to his home village and is alone on a carnival ride while his mother watches on. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kairat Makhmedov, Indira Geksembaeva, (more)
