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Absurdistan is a sweet-natured fable about a magical land and its people.
And the war between men and women.
The story unfolds with almost no dialogue. In a faraway land set someplace between Europe and Asia -- a piece of land God was saving for Himself, so the story goes -- the women are of legendary beauty and the men are kings of virility.
But that was the olden days. Now the place is a rundown collection of old buildings and 14 families, and there's a water shortage. Right now, the women of the village do all the work, while the men sit around drinking tea and philosophizing.
In their somewhat primitive surroundings, the women bake bread, collect the honey, raise the children and generally run the place. The men talk all day and come home later for cartoonish sex.
In the midst of this absurd village live Aya (Kristyna Malerova) and Temelko (Max Mauff), teenagers who were born the same day and promised to each other in love. They get engaged at age four and marry in a mock ceremony at age eight. At age 14, their interest in each other becomes somewhat more physical.
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In voiceover, Aya explains that her grandmother has given her a few rules to live by with regard to first love; grandma reads the stars and finds that the perfect day for the young lovers to finally consummate their relationship is coming up in four years. The countdown begins. Not surprisingly, Temelko leaves the village to get an education.
Time passes. Temelko returns. The village is running out of water. The pipe that brings water from an underground cave needs to be repaired, and that's a job the women can't do. With the help of grandma and Aya, the village women get organized and vow there will be no more sex until there is water. Desperate, the men attempt to import women, but the striking locals are quick to put an end to that.
If Temelko is ever to be with his beloved, he'd better get busy on that water pipe.
Surreal, silent and often very funny, Absurdistan is a weird little confection filled with magical visual moments. It's engaging, in a fairy tale sort of way, but the experience of seeing it isn't entirely satisfying. Aburdistan is more a short story than a novel, and there isn't quite enough material here to justify calling it a feature film.
It's in Russian with English subtitles.