KILLER aka Tueur a Gages (Kasakhstan/1998)

"Darezhan Omirbaev is one of the most talented filmmakers currently working anywhere but his nationality seems to have doomed him to the margins". (Jonathan Rosenbaum)

This third feature by Omirbaev (1958) won the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes. "Killer", the film's English title, is inappropriate because it raises the wrong expectations. This is not a thriller or a crime movie although it depicts criminality, with the violence just off screen. The protagonist, Marat, works as a chaffeur for a mathematician (Omirbaev's former profession). He rear-ends a Mercedes while driving home from the hospital where his wife Aijan has just given birth to a son. He's forced to borrow money to pay for the repairs then loses his job when the government stops funding scientific institutions (something that also affected the Kazak film industry following the collapse of the Soviet Union). Marat is forced to get a loan from a guy with organized crime connections and the calamities continue.

Killer opens with a scene in which the mathematician can't find a building's exit. We watch him wandering the halls and getting contrasting answers as to which way to go. The scene keeps accruing meaning as the strightforward, clean narrative moves along. As a matter of fact, the film seems even more impressive and more significant after a second viewing. Omirbaev depicts a post-communist society that has lost its traditions and its moral compass. The institutional and economic collapse is dramatized with great economy and conviction. Every scene has a clear purpose, a reason for being.

*I watched Killer on import dvd. Omirbaev first two features, Kairat and Cardiogram are available on UK dvd at a rather steep price. A Region 1 dvd of any of Omirbaev features would definitely be appreciated and quite deserved.