Just-out-of-jail John and his would-be actor brother, Yerbol, together with their ailing young sister Aliya arrive from Almaty to settle in the small country house belonging to their deceased mother. Unsurprisingly, they receive a cool welcome given that the current alcoholic occupier – the epitome of a boozed-soaked post-Sovietism – is fortunate enough to be the brother of the local police chief… Less refined and lapidary than Constructors, Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s previous film of a similar vein, The Owners ventures more forthrightly into a sometimes Kafka-like tragicomedy with slapstick moments (a frenzied dance at a funeral) and relentlessly takes the absurd vengefulness set in motion by the chilly reception of the three orphans to its logical conclusion. Present at the Cannes Special Screenings, and compared to Aki Kaurismaki, the Kazakh director says that he takes his inspiration from the composition and chromaticism of Vincent Van Gogh. The original mix of fixed angles, extreme close-ups on suddenly foregrounded objects and the angle chosen for certain portraits that have a striking symmetry give some of the shots the quality of tableaux vivants.
C.G.
