The savage drama of the remote Altai mountains in central and east Asia makes for an arresting backdrop to this life-affirming, stunningly photographed documentary. The story focuses on one little girl’s battle against the hidebound traditions of her patriarchal community. Aisholpan, 13, is the daughter of nomadic people. Her father, like his father before him, hunts with a majestic golden eagle, and Aisholpan dreams of carrying on the family tradition. But although her father supports her, to the extent that he dangles his daughter on a rope over a windswept cliff to snatch a three-month-old eagle chick from its nest, some of the other men disapprove. The woman’s role is to make tea, one grizzled old-timer sniffs. Another adds that women would get too cold to hunt on the exposed, icy mountains. But through passion and sheer force of will, Aisholpan goes on to be the first eagle huntress in her community. A suitably exalting score soars alongside Aisholpan’s bird.
Well that’s what the film tells us anyway. There have been suggestions that the audience has been misled for dramatic purposes: Aisholpan is not the first eagle huntress in her community; and it is alleged that the “opposition” to her vocation might not have been as vociferous as we are led to believe. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a documentary maker has glossed over the facts for a heartwarming punchline. Whether or not the storytelling here is disingenuous, there remains a manipulative quality to the film-making that is, in the end, off-putting.
