Three years after its release, "A Dark, Dark Man" is still collecting stamps of approval from seasoned critics all around the world. Having appeared in various film festivals with a few big wins in its pocket, Kazakhstan's art-house piece is ready to be streamed for the public in North America.
Qazmonitor reached out to Adilkhan Yerzhanov, the director of the film, for a few words of commentary. He confirmed that there are more offers from foreign platforms coming in and that we may just be able to see his other works (like "Assault") on our small screens in the near future.
Official release, critical review
"A Dark, Dark Man" is currently streaming on MHz Choice, which features international mysteries, dramas and comedies with English subtitles for viewers in the U.S. and Canada. The official trailer was released on July 19.
Since the running time is over 2 hours long, the distributors have decided to split the film into three parts.
The film's North American debut was celebrated with a review by The New York Times, which compared the cinematography to that of Bruno Dumont’s “Humanité,” Bong Joon Ho’s “Memories of Murder” and Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.
"The film is more of a mood piece, and much of its pitch-black humor derives from the contrast between the barren landscape and the sheer number of horrors it contains."
"A Dark, Dark Man" had its first big break when it won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Directing in 2019, sharing the spotlight with Bong Joon Ho's Academy Award winner "Parasite" which took Best Feature Film.
The story takes place in a remote setting on the Kazakh steppes where all crimes are swept under a rug. An innocent man is blamed for the murder of a child. A cynical detective wants nothing to do with the case but is forced to get his hands dirty at the persistence of a bright journalist from the city.
But the search for truth is far from rewarding as the duo unwittingly enters the murky waters of the criminal underground.
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