Tuesday, July 16, 2024

City of Wind (2023) NYAFF 2024


CITY OF WIND is really good. I say that because I saw it during a run of a number really poor films and I was beginning to think I would never see another good one.

The film concerns a high school student named Ze who is also a shaman. Channeling a grandfather spirit he seeks to help people. At the same time he is a normal high school student just trying to navigate life. Things become complicated when in his role as a shaman he tries to help a young woman due for heart surgery who wants no part of him (She calls him a charlatan). She survives the surgery and ze is smitten.  The relationship begins to change the young man for the better.

This is a brilliant coming of age tale that is far from typical. Not only showing us a young man coming of age, the film is a wonderful portrait of Mongolian society and most important a great examination of old and new worlds, as in shamanistic beliefs in the modern world.  What makes the film so damn great is the fact that while giving us all sorts of ideas to chew on it always remains focused on the characters and their lives. The film is about them first and last and as such the film is deeply moving.

Light years above the vast majority of films playing at this years New York Asian Film Fest CITY OF WIND is an absolute must see.

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