Coming-of-age stories are film classics. In this one, Ze is a 17-year-old with a regimented life and several responsibilities on his shoulders, including high school, family obligations and the atypical responsibility of being the shaman of his town in Mongolia, which adds certain spiritual restrictions to his life. But when he meets Maralaa, his world opens up to new possibilities, sensations and desires.
City of Wind is a film about the transition to adulthood within the shamanic tradition. Although little explored, Ze’s experience as a spiritual guide is devoid of moralism and represents a cultural heritage often considered a practice from a bygone era. However, here, it’s liberated and integrated into the Mongolian cultural fabric.
In City of Wind, everything seems to be part of a larger organism that must be observed as a whole. When Ze talks about spirits with Maralaa, his first love, he tells her that they “are part of nature,” to which she quickly responds, “Is there anything that is not part of nature? Everything is part of nature.” Purev-Ochir brilliantly portrays the feelings that arise between Ze and Maralaa, taking seriously not only the difficulties related to Ze’s beliefs, but also those that affect all young people on the threshold of adulthood. (Michaël Gaspar)
