No women without water
By John Esther
Absurdistan is a small village in the high desert mountains where the working day is brief, copulation is a ritual and the world is as crazy as a Joseph Heller novel. Set in the desert haze of habit, it is peaches, cream, dirt and delerium for the village folk until. . .the water stops flowing.
With the absence of water comes the absence of sex a la Lysistrata as the women lock up their legs, whip out their guns and start pushing the lazy men into action. This war and inaction causes the youth of the town to suffer more than anybody. The youth being a girl, Aya (Kristyna Malerova), and a boy, Temelko (Maximilian Mauff), who share the exact birthday and thus are destined to be together (at least until the de-virgining when the stars meet). Urged on by his adolscent urges, Temelko stands as the area's only chance of survival. The older generations could hardly care less.
Told with minimal dialouge, director and co-writer Veit Helmer's imagination bares resemblances to Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Shohei Imamuara, but is far tamer in its microcosmic examination of a society willing to let the rivers run and women run dry rather than break their ignorant and imbibed inertia. It is a quirky, delightful film but lacks the guts to refrain from eventually reinforcing the status quo of a victorian-valued narrative.
Absurdistan opens Friday, February 6 at Landmark Nuart Theatre. For more information go to www.landmarktheatres.com
