‘2000 Songs of Farida’ Review: Bewitchingly Beautiful Tale of Tradition and Jealousy in Early 20th Century Uzbekistan

It can take a moment to adjust to the quiet, grave rhythms of the impossibly gorgeous “2000 Songs of Farida,” where the imagemaking is so resplendent as to be disorienting, given how accustomed we are to a cinema in which the pictures primarily serve the storytelling. But Yalkin Tuychiev’s film, which is Uzebkistan’s entry for the international Oscar, is hardly lacking in story: This historical drama is simply told with such grace that its opening scenes feel like snatches of a melody that needs to reach its refrain before we can recognize it as a song — one that harmonizes… Read Full Article