Close to Eden

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Close to Eden ★★ Urga 1990 (PG)

A peasant couple living in inner Mongolia with their three children are prevented by strict Chinese law from having a fourth. The husband sets out from his village to obtain birth control from the nearby town. While on his way, the farmer (Bayaertu) saves a Russian truck driver (Gostukhin) after he drives into a lake. Sergei is introduced to another way of life when he's taken home by his rescuer to meet the family and becomes accustomed to the tranquility of farm life in the rural Mongolian steppe. Essentially a story about the changes modern civilization can bring to a rural way of life. Filmed in Mongolia. In Russian with English subtitles. 109m/C VHS . RU Baoyinhexige, Badema, Nikita Mikhalkov; D: Nikita Mikhalkov; W: Rustam Ibragimbekov; M: Eduard Artemyev. Venice Film Fest. '91: Film.