Tulpan

Tulpan is one of those films that turns out to be an unexpected delight. A family live in a yurt on the steppe, with their flock of sheep and assorted other animals. The first joy is that, despite being in the middle of nowhere, there's more noise than in any city: from the children (the daughter's singing, much to her father's intense irritation; the toddler's yelling) and from the animals, who produce an endless cacophony. Then there's Asa, the young brother-in-law. Just returned from the navy, he needs a wife before he has any hope of getting a flock of his own, and the only eligible female is the eponymous Tulpan (who we never actually see) Alas, she's less than impressed with her suitor and declares his ears are too large, resulting in several amusing scenes as Asa tries to correct this perceived fault. The real reason though is that Tulpan wants to go to college and is fully supported in this by her formidable mother. You can understand why she wants her daughter to have a different life.
It's a hard, precarious existence, and the elements don't help. Dust devils appear out of nowhere; storms fill the sky, and the parched landscape offers no sustenance for the flock, with lambs dying with worrying frequency. The boss won't allow the family to move yet, and Asa is singularly useless (you can't help but think Tulpan makes the right decision when she leaves) And yet it's actually a very funny film. Asa's brother-in-law Ondas fixes all and sundry with withering glances, while his friend Boni is obsessed with girls, sports a mighty impressive set of gold teeth and incongruously plays Boney M's Rivers of Babylon the minute he starts his truck. The comic highlight begins with the surreal sight of a camel, swathed in bandages, sitting in the sidecar of a battered motorbike (which turns out to belong to the vet) while clever camera moves and offscreen sound reveal the momma camel who's been following and terrorising the vet. The attempt to get a head start fails miserably when the bike won't start and the vet, boss and patient are hotly pursued into the distance by momma. The scene manages to be both hilarious and wonderfully endearing. It's matched by the emotional peak when Asa storms off in a sulk after another row with Ondas (actually he just heads deeper into the middle of nowhere ...) and finds the missing pregnant sheep, about to give birth. In an earlier scene Asa had been no help whatsoever but now, on his own, he not only assists but manages to resuscitate the lamb. It's completely gripping because we've seen numerous dead lambs as well as Asa's own incompetence so the chances of success aren't high. Against all the odds Asa might make a life on the steppe after all.