Torture and bullying have been the subject of controversy throughout the past year. First Harvey Weinstein released a divisive documentary "Bully," which made sensors and the MPAA try and limit the audience and the exposure of the film by giving it an R rating. Then Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" was the subject of an investigation after it showed water boarding of prisoners. With Emir Baigazin's first feature "Harmony Lessons," the idea of bullying and torture is taken to a completely new level in this dramatically wrenching film debut.
The film centers around Aslan (Timur Aidarbekov), a young teenager who is bullied constantly by Bolat (Aslan Anarbayev), a low-ranking player in a larger scheme that extorts money from the youngest kids and moves it up the chain to bigger boys and young men, like identical twins Takhir and Damir (Adlet and Daulet Anarbekov). Aslan is a successful science student but an introvert who has a hard time communicating. He holds all his emotions in and instead takes them out at home as he builds different machines to torture cockroaches.
"Harmony Lessons" is a terse and spare film that feels cold and distant and, at times, unnerving. The opening scene starts off as a seemingly innocent game of catching a sheep; however by the end, Alsan tortures and slaughters the animal. This sequence, while excruciating to watch, is a good representation of what is to come. While it may seem like a joke at first to torture Aslan at school, the fact that he does not speak or say anything makes him an enigma. He may seem as if everything is okay but at home he slowly reveals diabolic machinery and plans to end the torture. At school, he remains quiet but as he sees the injustice and cruelty committed to his other classmates (One is driven to the hospital after Bolat break his leg), Aslan takes action into his own hands.
While the viewer is never shown what occurred at the school, Aslan and Mirsain are taken to prison and tortured to find out what happened. Baigazin has no qualms with showing policemen hitting and suffocating these teenagers in order to obtain information. Of course each scene is done in a measured and calculated way so that the viewer is never subjected to it all. Instead, he leaves the viewer to hear the screams and shouts of the teens and imagine the rest.
The film is visually and aesthetically glacial as the director uses pastels and grays throughout the film. He also chooses to shoot most of it in wide shots to distance the viewer even more. But the effect becomes even more gruesome and difficult to watch because he holds the scenes out for a long time.
The film's major challenge, however, will be the amount of real violence towards animals. As aforementioned, there is a sheep that is slaughtered and the viewer is forced to see Aslan take out its intestines. There are also numerous tortures of lizards and cockroaches, including cucaracha who gets strapped to a tiny homemade electric chair. According to Variety, these animals were actually mistreated during the production.
It will also be unpleasant to see children throwing up and covered in blood. While Baigazin never shows a real fight between the teenagers, the after-effects are much more grueling. The aforementioned police tortures are also quite intense.
In conclusion, Baigazin's "Harmony Lessons" is a brutal and frightening cinematic experiences that will definitely provoke conversation throughout the festival.
"Harmony Lessons" screens at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 19, 20, 22, 25 as part of the Viewpoints Section.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
