Dzhamilya

A remote village in Kyrgyzstan. Jamila was married off, at her family's wish, to a man she does not love. When war comes, her husband leaves for the front. Left in the village, Jamila meets Daniyar, who has come back from the war wounded. He says little, but one song he sings changes everything. The whole story is told by Seit, a boy in those years. Irina Poplavskaya's film is adapted from Chinghiz Aitmatov's novella of the same name, and Aitmatov himself is heard in it as the narrator. Louis Aragon, who translated the book into French, called it in his preface the most beautiful love story in the world. The images are black and white with colour breaking in at moments. Natalya Arinbasarova plays Jamila.