…………………………………………………

True Noon Movie Review

True Noon is a 2009 Tajik comedy drama film directed by Nosir Saidov and starring Yuriy Nazarov. It is a very interesting, but flawed movie.

The story takes place in a village of Tajikistan, with another close village in the background. Nilufar is a pretty girl living in a village near the border. She is an assistant to Kirill, the Russian operator of a climate observatory on a hill. He has trained her to make observations with the instruments used there. He decides to transfer his responsibility to Nilufar, after her marriage with Aziz of the next village. But on the day of the engagement, soldiers come and plant barbed wire to separate the two villages. The biggest problem then becomes the organization of the wedding in these circumstances.

………………………………………………….

………………………………………………….

This movie is very interesting in its central subject matter. It clearly deals with the Tajikistan-Uzbekistan land border, but it never mentions the latter country’s name, which was odd at first, but it did work in the context of the story that is more personal and funny instead of historical and all-encompassing.

The film’s treatment of random borders was excellent. In a world with ever-changing borders, it should prove highly relatable and a lot of solid humor is mined from this situation that is not just unfortunate for the people involved, but also genuinely troublesome for some of them.

My main issue with the movie is its overly comedic tone that actually managed to lessen the emotional impact of the story. The same should be said for the movie’s clunky pacing. For instance, the wedding that takes place in the second half takes so much screen time that it threatened to overtake the entire narrative.

Pacing issues aside, True Noon is solidly made across the board. The characterization and the acting left a lot to be desired honestly as we never really meet these characters properly, but the script has its very strong thematic points, the directing is good and the movie was very well shot with some quite memorable imagery on display, especially in the first half.

………………………………………………….

………………………………………………….

True Noon has some evident pacing issues in the second half and the character development left a lot to be desired. The humorous elements can also be overwhelming. Still, this movie offers a great commentary about the dangers of random borders and how they can change the lives of the nearby citizens significantly. The first half was particularly memorable and engaging.

My Rating – 3.5