听 As its whimsical title suggests, 37 Uses For A Dead Sheep is a documentary with a sense of humour. However, as he recounts the eventful history of Central Asian tribe the Pamir Kirghiz, director Ben Hopkins stays on the right side of Borat-style ethnic mockery, treating his subjects with affection and esteem. He also turns a few of them into film stars in a range of reconstructions that entertainingly reveal the community's journey over the last century or so.
And when we say 'journey', we're very much speaking in the geographical sense. Originally making their home in Russia's Pamir mountains, the Kirghiz' resistance to communism drove them first to China and then to Afghanistan, where Soviet invasion forced them to flee once more, this time to Pakistan. In one of the most surreal segments, we learn how the tribe received an offer from two US men in black to relocate to Alaska. Instead, they chose to settle in Eastern Turkey, where they remain today. But not, perhaps, for very much longer: Hopkins exposes the generation gap that is eroding the tribe's traditional ways, as younger members opt for modern life in Istanbul.
"RESISTANT VILLAGERS - WARTS AND ALL"
Half the film comprises its own making-of, as Hopkins shows, warts and all, the collaborative process between his crew and the sometimes resistant villagers. Shot in a silent-movie style, the reconstructions are a little overdone, but offer an imaginative counterpoint to the talking-head footage. And in case you're wondering, yes, you do get to find out what all 37 uses for a dead sheep are.
