TO GET TO HEAVEN, FIRST YOU HAVE TO DIE (2006)

Original Title – Bihisht Faqat Baroi Murdagon

THE ONLY PLACE THIS FILM IS GETTING TO, IS HELL.

Each and every year there are particular films on the festival circuit that are met with conflicting views from the audience. Some sing praise for the film’s bold and artistic efforts whilst others disagree and condemn the film’s approach. In 2006, To Get To Heaven, First You Have To Die became one of those films, and whilst it received admiration from many, I was one who was unable to share those same views. But I guess that’s the beauty of cinema.

Set in director Jamshed Usmonov's hometown of Tajikistan, the film follows the story of Kamal (Khurshed Golibekov) a recently married young man who suffers from impotence. Kamal is unable to consummate his marriage so he visits a local doctor who assures him that nothing is wrong. Rather than take his word for it Kamal ventures into the city to try to find an older woman so that he can learn the art of ‘love’ and rid himself of this curse.

Whilst on his quest throughout the city, Kamal finds himself being constantly rejected by the older women he tries to connect with, however; after multiple failed attempts, Kamal meets Vera (Dinara Drukarova). At first, she refuses his subtle attempts to try and touch her hand on the bus, and when she gets off at her stop Kamal secretly follows her to work but is kicked off the premises when security catches him. The next day Kamal goes back to her work in the afternoon and waits at the bus stop for her to finish. Vera takes a liking to Kamal’s persistence and invites him back to her place. The next morning, we find both Kamal and Vera naked in her bed. Kamal wakes up to find Vera’s mobster husband (Maruf Pulodzoda) waiting for him, but rather than kill him he blackmails Kamal into helping out on a few ‘jobs’. As the two embark on a crime spree we slowly start to realise that maybe this partnership is exactly what Kamal needed to help him become a ‘man’.

From the opening scene, we know straight away that we’re in for a long haul as we watch Kamal undress at a snail’s pace. After entering the doctor’s office, Kamal lays naked on a couch as the pair exchange forced dialogue that doesn’t flow or feel natural. The conversation ends abruptly as we lead into the credits followed by Kamal traveling to the city so that he can learn the art of ‘love’ from an older woman. However; this isn’t really apparent and unless you’ve read the synopsis then you probably don’t understand what is happening.

From here we watch a married man creepily stalk a bunch of older women which is disturbing, to say the least. Our first encounter sees Kamal stare at a woman up and down as she sleeps across from him in the same cabin on a train, her response is to go to sleep or she’ll call the conductor. Next is his first encounter with Vera which sees him standing next to her on a bus. Their hands are close to each other as they hold on to the rail, so Kamal sees this as an opportunity to subtly place his fingers over hers. Once she realises she pulls away only for Kamal to try another two times. Next, we see him stalk a woman from the library to her Tae Kwon do class where he gets rejected. And finally, he again stalks a woman in the shopping centre and waits outside before offering to carry her bags back to her place. On arrival, Kamal is greeted by the husband who takes the bags and closes the door on him.

I’ve yet to read a review on this film that found these scenes disturbing. Here we have a married man who is stalking a bunch of women in hope that one of them will sleep with him so that he can try and terminate his impotence for his wife. This didn’t sit right with me and it honestly turned me off the rest of the film even though there wasn’t anything worth changing my mind.

There are some beautiful shots that director Jamshed Usmonov should be commended for, however; the overall bleakness and the fact that every character is miserable makes for a bland viewing. Everything seems quite odd in this film and by the end, nothing really makes sense, in my opinion. Even though it runs at a reasonably short 90 minutes, To Get To Heaven, First You Have To Die’ slow pace makes you feel like you’ve wasted a lot more time than that.

★☆☆☆☆   

19 OCTOBER 2018