*Twitch Redeem by Seventh_Persona.*

***One of the best 150 films I have ever seen.***

The second best film of the 1990s.

It's a common preconception, perhaps an unconscious bias in some, definitely a conscious one in several, that the 90s cannot replicate the narrative, technical and aesthetic perfection of the best decade in cinema, the 1960s. The 1970s proceeded with seldom transgressive experimentation, alarming censors and raising the curiosity of moviegoers to expand the creative medium through purposeful utilization of graphic violence.

That is until one stumbles, unprepared and without prior warning, with ironically underseen juggernaut projects of admirable proportions like Damianos' The Charioteer (1995). For sheer "coincidence" (I have never believed in coincidences), Damianos' groundbreaking and landmark swan song…

Kazakh New Wave director Ardak Amirkulov’s THE FALL OF OTRAR is a massive, hypnotic epic about one of the most crucial military battles in world history. In the early 13th Century, Ghengis Khan conquered Ortrar, a major city of the old Persian kingdom of Kharazm that stood as a gateway to the West. This victory marked the fearsome warrior’s first campaign beyond traditional Mongol territory and the opening salvo to his domination of practically all of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Evoking the dynamic pacing of Kurosawa and the hallucinatory sensuousness of Tarkovsky (as aided by a deft alternation of color, black-and-white, and sepia tone film stocks), Amirkulov follows the escalation of war through the eyes of Unjukhan (Dokhturbek Kydyraliev),…

A contemplative elegiac tale of diplomacy, greeed & betrayal all wrapped under Political allegory and cultural identity.

[Below para. Include spoilers]
I really admire how the film shows the consequences of political betrayal and conquest in Otrar without overdoing the violence. You can feel the tension and danger in every scene, yet it never resorts to showing gruesome acts just enough to make you understand the stakes. This really impressed me because it could have easily relied on graphic spectacle, but the film chose to let the story and characters carry the weight (like how Subutai and Jochi build their plans carefully in front of Inalchuq and the city’s leaders, showing strategy and patience, only to bring about the city’s downfall)…

Monumental. Feel almost like the comparisons to Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev will be the most common point of reference to describe something like this, but Ardak Amirkulov belongs inside his own class. Perhaps it all stems from the way that Amirkulov builds this epic from the grounds that lead up to the siege of Otrar, by showing you traces of civilization. Though, the construction of Otrar before its destruction is also done with immense care: the architecture of the city is astonishing enough on its own, but that's also how something of a miracle is born out of The Fall of Otrar. It's a gorgeous movie all around, but it's the kind that showcases an extreme spectrum of what humanity is…

"I've been killing. We started in different ways but the end was always the same. And Everything might have been the other way round. My life too has gone away.....
Listen, I hear our Otrar held out longer than any other City."

I need this film to be restored and remastered to 4K, as soon as possible. A Masterpiece from Kazakhstan. This remarkable work of a film shows the complex and tumultuous period leading up to the Mongol invasion of Central Asia, focusing on the mysterious fall of the city of Otrar in the early 13th century.
The plot is complex and multilayered, portraying the volatile mix of ambition, loyalty, and deception. Amirkulov (director) doesn’t just recount history; he explores…

First and foremost, please read Edgar's review before you proceed. He is the reason I discovered this film and anything said in my review is 10x better articulated and more extensive in his. Just a quick shoutout to one of the greatest writers on this site, who never fails to unknowingly discover a masterpiece for me. 

I hate to start my review by stealing Edgar’s comparisons, but this film draws uncanny resemblance to many of the greatest historical sprawling epics ever made, and it’s something I simply cannot ignore. From Kurosawa’s massively scoped battle sequences in Ran, Kagemusha, and even Seven Samurai, with a charismatic lead spiritually succeeding Mifune’s role in Throne of Blood and Andrzej Seweryn’s performance in Zulawski’s On the…