Tuya’s Marriage – Tuya de hun shi (2007)

Directed by: Quan’an Wang | 86 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Nan Yu, Bater, Sen’ge, Zhaya

In the majestic and picturesque, but at the same time often bitterly cold and poor landscape of Inner Mongolia, Tuya rides for hours every day in ‘Tuya’s Marriage’ on a camel to tend her flock of sheep. She looks beautiful in her colorful clothes, thickly wrapped, but life is hard and difficult for her. There is hardly enough food and water. Water has to be drawn from a well from afar. Her husband Bater became paralyzed while building a well and can no longer walk. Tuya is thus responsible for the total care of her family. Her life is nothing more than a constant struggle for survival.

Tuya’s back is injured in an accident while helping her neighbor Shenge. She is no longer allowed to do heavy work, otherwise she too could become paralyzed. Her neighbor Shenge wants to help her and is secretly in love with her. His own wife sometimes goes out with other men and he is very under the influence. His help is not enough for her and it cannot continue like this. Tuya is faced with a difficult and heartbreaking decision. With the consent of her husband, she wants to divorce and then find a new man. She must then agree to care for her paralyzed current husband.

A beautiful story, sketched with a lot of subtle humour, then develops. Several candidates appear at her door and come to negotiate the conditions that Tuya sets. All are somehow trying to get rid of caring for her current husband. Tuya finds this unacceptable, her husband is part of the deal. This may sound like a story full of melodrama, but the director has managed to avoid it flawlessly: at no point is this the case. The events develop in a sublime way in which the candidates show up, but are rejected again after several rounds of consultation. This is done by this strong woman in a humorous and sober way. Tuya weighs in, but the love for her husband is unconditional.

‘Tuya’s Marriage’ can be characterized as a beautiful piece of drama with a touch of romance. All roles have a strong interpretation. The fact of the story itself is relatively simple, but beautifully elaborated and designed. The main characters are fully developed.

The beautiful landscape is of course suitable for long shots. The photography and camera work are of a high standard. In ‘Tuya’s Marriage’, the harsh reality and the authentic way of life are woven together with the many centuries-old traditions sublimely and with great warmth. This adds a lot of value to the story. In terms of style, the director has opted for a kind of semi-documentary style of filming. The film is averse to any pathos or melodrama. The struggle that Tuya is going through is that of a dignified and believable struggle. It’s about more than surviving sec. The director penetratingly shows that these shepherds are finding it increasingly difficult to live according to their old traditions. Economic growth and the development of all kinds of projects do not take regional identity into account.

The film starts and ends in tears, which victories of the combative Tuya lie in between? Moving and overwhelming, majestic and magnificent landscapes, very strong playing, beautiful soundtrack. A ‘must see’.