Abdulladzhan, or Dedicated to Steven Spielberg

The story

Considering that Musakov’s Abdulladzhan (1991) was dedicated to Steven Spielberg, we might suggest that these four boys embody nothing more complicated than a conflict of youthful innocence with some ominous threat—the basic workings of E.T. (1982) or War of the Worlds (2005), say. That threat, however, is best understood not through vague nationalism or warmed-over socialism, but through the other reference-point of Abdulladzhan—Tarkovskii’s Stalker (1980). Musakov leaves his boys in a simplified radiance so bright and so overexposed that it no longer looks like the skies of sunny Tashkent, but a disturbing, borderless luminosity to match the flat tonal range of Stalker’s “Zone.” Our Uzbek boys are nowhere in particular; this is a broader domain than anything international.

Cast

S Shukhrat KayumovAbdulladzhan - alien T Tuti YusupovaHolida-aka - Bazarbai's wife R Radzhab AdashevBazarbai T Tuychi AripovRais-ota - collective farm chairman D Dzhavlon KhamrayevYuldash K Khodzhiakbar NurmatovHasanbai J Jamol HoshimovMatkaul S Sergey Dreydenairplane pilot G Galina Lukovnikova-Mamedovavillage resident A Abror Tursunovшофер председателя E Ergash MuminovBoltobay - Bazarbai's son V Vladimir MenshovIvan Ivanovich Nakhlobuchko - general

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V Vladimir TsvetovVladimir Tsvetov - tv journalist O O. IbragimovaShakhlo Y Yulduz KhamidovaBazarbai's daughter B Barno QodirovaBazarbai's daughter V Valeri Tsvetkov G Gennadios Patsismilitsiya officer near the gate S Stanislav Falkocollective farm deputy chairman N Nuriddin Mamutov M Makhmud Gafurzhanov A A. Madazimov T T. Boltobaev U Ulmas YusupovAmajan - militsiya major S Shavkat Boltobaev M Maksud Atabaevvillage resident (uncredited) K Khusan MusabayevBazarbai's relative (uncredited) G Grigoriy Kimmr. To Yama - representative Geisha corporation (uncredited) Z Zulfikar MusakovAmatjan - militsiya officer (uncredited) R Rafik YusupovHolmirza (uncredited) T Tursunboy Iminovvillage resident (uncredited) B Boris KostenkoTV presenter of the program «TSN» D Dias RahmatovHairdresser (uncredited) D D. Khoshimov D Dzhamal KhashimovMatkaul Z Zakirzhan MuminovVillage resident (uncredited)