Might be described as an epic landscape film, a sweetly comic coming-of-age story or a lyrical work of social realism. But the setting -- a windswept, sparely populated steppe in southern Kazakhstan -- gives the movie a mood that sometimes feels closer to that of science fiction.
What makes Tulpan remarkable are the extended unbroken scenes, both dramatic and comic.
90
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
Polished, funny and utterly charming.
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Boston GlobeTy Burr
In the tradition of ethnographic dramas from "Nanook of the North" to "The Fast Runner," Tulpan drops us in the middle of a godforsaken nowhere and marvels at the people who live there.
A beautifully choreographed and photographed story about tradition and modernity in rural Asia.
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
New York PostV.A. Musetto
The acting and story are solid, but the real star of Tulpan is the gorgeous, never-ending landscape -- flat and arid, and home to camels, goats and lambs, and hearty people who live in tentlike yurts.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
A tender, unforgettable comedy about a vanishing way of life.