The Wild East (1993)

Following the success of arthouse crime film Needle, Kazakh director Rashid Nugmanov's next project was a semi-remake of the Magnificent Seven...But with a twist! Do you ever feel the original was great and all, but needed more dwarves?...

A farming community of dwarves known as the Solar Children are being victimised by a bandit gang. To save their hides they manage to locate a down-on-his-luck mercenary, who convinces 6 more desperados willing to work for nothing to join their mission. Between a beatnik, a stuntman, and a Mongol eagle trainer, can this ragtag bunch save the day?...

The Wild East is an odd film, which is exactly what I was after. Some Central Asian gonzo cinema! But after watching it, I can't help but feel a little disappointed.

The film is a wild mish-mash of genres, sometimes described as a post-apocalyptic punk samurai comedy western (or Ostern as they're sometimes called when over east). Some of these titles are a little exaggerated, and calling it post-apocalyptic may be a bit of a stretch, but the movie definitely has a lot. Whether or not it suffers from this or not is debatable.

The setting is ambiguous, and never given much detail. This could well be a semi post-apocalyptic landscape, along the lines of Mad Max 1. Bandit gangs are rampant, civilians form their own communities, and there's no semblance of law and order here. On the other hand, there's enough infrastructure to go to the cinema, or buy a fancy new tractor, so things can't be all bad! I don't mind that the film doesn't give us a complicated and unnecessary explanation for why the world here is how it is, but it would've been nice to know if it even was.

Where The Wild East really held promise, and disappoints perhaps the most is its sense of comedy. Given what's at stake, I don't mind that the dwarf community isn't treated like a farce, even though the idea of a post-apocalyptic dwarf town may sound goofy on paper. The humour comes from the idiosyncracies of the characters, and some of the bizarre locales, like whatever the hell the bandits are doing in their nightclub! I mind that there's not enough of it! What we get is pretty weak, and few and far-between.

The film does justify itself at least by showing that if you leave the Kazakhs to their own devices, they can make a well made film. It may have needed a bit of extra spice in one department, or less in another, but it's competent.

The plot here is a pared-back version of Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven, which has enough remakes, but I think this has enough new elements it could've brought to the table to be worthy. I'm not really sure it did it for me though. It lacks the depth, and it's a story we know inside and out. And it basically confirms that most of the 7 heroes will bite the dust!

The Solar Children, despite their cool name and circus backstory, are just some random villagers. Iona has the most depth to him, and is an ok kid. It's the seven who get more detail, though they're pretty basic archetypes. The noble loner, the tough woman, the strong but silent type, the crazy one, etc. They each get fun introductions, but mostly blend together.

Where they disappointed me as heroes was when they get tricked and lose easily without a fight! Worst of all is what happens to the poor eagle! Struck down in his prime, offscreen, before seeing even a bit of combat! I wanted to see him peck out bandits' eyes, and scratch them to pieces! Is that too much to ask?

Beatnik is a fairly standard hero, and despite the name is more of a cowboy. Marilyn is a spunky gal, and car enthusiast. She develops a nice connection with Iona, and her final moments are decent, but how it happens is pretty dumb. Half the major character deaths happen with little fanfare, including one guy who withstands like 5 direct hits like a champ, then just disappears in-between shots.

The villains are pretty standard wasteland raiders, with a bizarro nightclub where people stick plastic bags on their heads and are served by corpulent naked women. They're simultaneously tough, yet weak.

After being beaten the first time, the heroes strike back with ludicrous efficiency, managing to annihilate their HQ with one explosion. Somehow there are still villains left, who team up with some bikies for another assault, before the survivors of each side return to the bombed-out HQ one last time. Beatnik wastes all his ammo on mannequins like an idiot, then takes part in the weird villain's game, beating it in a clever way! I also question who grabs a knife mid-air by the handle, but it's still badass!

The cast is a big one, with what I can only assume are all the dwarves in Kazakhstan. I like that the film doesn't make a big joke out of this community. I think little people can be absolutely adorable, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it can be a little patronising when that's the only portrayal you ever see. The remainder of the actors range from decent, to overly cheesy (with the villain getting the worst moments). The film is performed in Russian, though a few of the cast get to speak in their own languages, namely the eagle man.

Despite its low budget, The Wild East is a good looking film. It's directed well, with nice choice of locations. There's a nice sense of visual scale, and the mix of area and lighting for the final showdown is really good. A perfect balance of dark blue, without being hard to see, making for some really effective confrontation.

The effects here range from cheap to effective. Gunshot wounds are alright, and flying body parts resemble mannequins. My favourite was the HQ explosion. It's one of those effects where if you know a thing or two, you can guess how it was done, but that only makes you more interested seeing it play out. There's also a little bit of random but cool stop motion.

Overall this is an ok film, and passes the time if you just want some mindless action. It's also interesting as a cultural artifact. The Wild East was well-received on its release, but director Nugmanov would mostly retire from the cinema scene (barring an ill-advised remix of Needle, with jarring new footage spliced in and baffling new plot twists). It is a shame he wasn't able to make it anywhere like Timur Bekmambetov, or continue in his home country, but hey, at least he hasn't become some jaded rich asshole who cosies up with Russian mobsters! So for that we can be all grateful!...