The Eagle Huntress

Movie Information

The Story: A thirteen-year-old Kazakh girl defies cultural gender roles by excelling in eagle hunting, an avocation traditionally only engaged in by the men of her isolated mountain community. The Lowdown: An aesthetically stunning documentary that presents a powerful feminist message but falls prey to its filmmakers' influence.
Score:

Genre: Documentary
Director: Otto Bell
Starring: Aisholpan Nurgaiv, Rhys Nurgaiv, Kuksyegyen Almagul, Boshai Dalaikhan.
Rated: G

 

Eagle-Hunters-Project6

The Eagle Huntress is a remarkably beautiful documentary focused on a fascinating subject with implications that resonate far beyond the scope of the film itself. Director Otto Bell presents the world of Kazakh eagle hunting through the lens of the first female aspirant to this traditionally male-dominated pursuit, and if the practice itself may seem distinctly foreign to Western sensibilities, the struggle to overcome deeply entrenched gender biases is all too familiar. Though the veracity of this film’s appellation as a “documentary” may be in question, its probable appeal to open-minded youngsters is not.

maxresdefault-37

Bell’s film follows Aisholpan, a teen girl in the remote Altai Mountains of the Mongolian-Kazakh border, as she sets her heart on breaking into the ranks of her community’s fiercely androcentric eagle hunters. With the help of Nurgaiv, her father and most ardent advocate, Aisholpan must capture an infant eagle from its precarious cliffside nest and train it to hunt before entering into a prestigious eagle hunting competition, an event at which her father has always placed highly. Along the way she endures the scorn of village elders and the bewilderment of her mother, sisters and schoolmates as she pursues her dream. It’s blatant heartstring tugging of the basest variety, but like its protagonist, the film is largely successful in its aims.

Eagle-Hunters-Project11

If Huntress falls short in my critical estimation, it’s largely due to the influence its filmmakers have unquestionably exerted upon their subject. While it may not be as overtly contrived as Nanook of the North, many of the scenes feel distinctly staged, and those that don’t still bear the incontrovertible earmarks of documentary observers that affected the behavior of their subjects by virtue of their very presence. Like Schrödinger’s cat, we can only speculate as to how these events would have played out in the absence of Bell and his cameras.

13 year old Ashol Pan with her eagle - Despite her young age, Ashol had the amazing ability to control and be able to caress her eagle, almost as if she had been with it for years. (Asher Svidensky/Caters News)

What those cameras capture, however, is nothing short of magnificent. Bell and cinematographer Simon Niblett present the icy steppes and rugged mountains in all their isolated glory, but perhaps their most impressive achievement is the use of drones to capture the remarkable eagle’s point of view flight sequences that visually propel the film. It’s difficult to call to mind any doc in recent memory that has looked this outstanding, even if that visual appeal threatens to detract from the story at times.

the-eagles-huntress

This is a film decidedly dedicated to inspiring tween girls, which is a laudable goal, yet renders some of Bell’s directorial decisions a bit perplexing. The film opens with the slaughter of a lamb and ends with a drawn-out eagle hunt in which a fox is eventually cornered and killed, sequences which may prove too challenging for younger viewers. I have to admit I felt bad for the poor fox in particular, although I was far more put off by the film’s ponderous score and repetitive use of a song by Australian pop musician Sia.

 

rCh5ZMR

Having been narrated and produced by Daisy “Rey from Star Wars” Ridley enhances The Eagle Huntress‘ girl-power pedigree to such an extent that I feel certain my older brother will be inexorably compelled to take my young nieces to a screening. To be fair, there are many films aimed at their demographic that have proven far less deserving of his time and effort. If grumpy Uncle Scott found The Eagle Huntress far too pat and conveniently on-message to stack up against better documentaries, they will be singularly unperturbed by my analysis, and rightfully so. This wasn’t a film made with the jaded cynicism of a sleep-deprived critic in mind, it was one tailored to the optimism of youth, and as such, I have to call it a qualified success. Rated G. Subtitled Kazakh dialogue

Opens Friday at Grail Moviehouse

SHARE

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.