Comrade Boykenzhayev

Colour, 35 mm
Uzbekistan, 2002, 78 min
Section: East of the West

Synopsis

Somewhere in Uzbekistan during the Soviet era. No sooner does Russian bigwig Pyotr Andreyevich express his wish that an international cemetery be founded where Uzbeks, Russians, Jews and Koreans may lie side by side, than he is laid low by a stroke. Local functionaries entrust the realization of his parting notion to stalwart comrade Boykenzhayev, who proved his worth in school performances playing the part of Lenin. He calls in technicians, the army and the youth organization to prepare the site in the shape of a five-point star. The locals merely shake their heads. When the work is finally completed, they set a date for the grand opening. According to the regulations, the first “dearly departed” is to be an Uzbek. But the morgue only holds a man named Afanasi – and, anyway, a Korean shaman brings him back to life. The family of a dead Uzbek deny his existence and give him a secret Muslim burial. In order not to disappoint the Party leadership, Boykenzhayev dresses in black and, to the strains of Lenin’s beloved Appassionata, lies down and dies. Now the grand funeral can take place – complete with death masses and saluting youth pioneers.

About the director

Yusup Razykov (b. 1947) graduated in screenwriting from Moscow’s VGIK film school (1986). He writes and currently works in Tashkent managing Uzbekfilm studios. His feature debut, Orator (Voiz, 1999), a film pillorying the careerism, hypocrisy and fervour of a naive revolutionary, won the Russian Film Critics’ Prize. In 2000 he shot Women’s Paradise (Zhenskoye czarstvo), focusing on polygamy and the conflict between traditional and modern positions on this current issue. Comrade Boykenzhayev (O’rtoq Boykenjayev, 2002), inspired by a stage play, uses black comedy to evoke Uzbekistan’s Soviet past.