The Light Thief

The obscure Eurasian country of Kyrgyzstan is the site for this microcosmic look at how suddenly Western-style modernization can bulldoze its way over the tranquil traditions of rural village life. In a poverty-ridden valley with very few resources, Svet-Ake (Arym Kubat)—also known as “Mr. Light”—is an altruistic electrician whose grand ambition is to one day supply his entire village with wind-generated electricity (essentially expanding on his crude but effective attempts to generate power for his own family and neighbors). But the film soon introduces some silver-tongued suit-and-tied outsiders with no connection to the land, who have an eye on redeveloping the valley and running the humble peasant residents out. The evil developer kingpin, Bekzat (Askat Sulaimanov), takes the easily coerced Mr. Light under his wing: the naïve electrician views collaboration as a golden opportunity to fulfill his village-wide wind-powered electric dreams. Although the film doesn't say anything original about the sad inevitability of the slick, morally suspect forces of gentrification and the onslaught of global cultural homogeneity, it does offer an intermittently fascinating look at a little-known indigenous culture in the process of going extinct. Recommended. (M. Sandlin)