THE GENTLE INDIFFERENCE OF THE WORLD

After her father’s suicide, Saltanat’s simple rural existence starts to spiral out of control. As the heiress to nothing but a mountain of debt, plagued by bill collectors, Saltanat is sent to the city, where a rich uncle is supposed to help her family out of their crisis. Her loyal friend Kuandyk accompanies her on her trip. Alas, while Saltanat is forced to witness how affluent men fail to honour their promises, Kuandyk attempts to come up with some cash for the family on his own, which leads him to become increasingly caught up in entanglements and criminal circles. The understated performances of the ensemble cast, reminiscent of Aki Kaurismäki’s style, stand in stark contrast to the vibrant colour schemes present in the costumes and landscapes. Just as Adilkhan Yerzhanov follows the existentialism of Albert Camus, rebelling aesthetically against the absurdity of the (film)world, his characters Saltanat and Kuandyk also revolt time and again. Here where profit and greed reign supreme, the meaninglessness of social coexistence becomes truly tangible, in a gently indifferent world, as the title aptly captures.