Tulpan

Near the conclusion of his four-star review of Tulpan, Roger Ebert acknowledges the difficulties of convincing American audiences to see a dramedy about shepherds in barren Kazakhstan. “You’ll enjoy it, not soon forget it, and you’ll tell your friends about it and try to persuade them to go,” Ebert promises, “but you’ll have about as much luck with them as I’m probably having with you.” In spite of its unlikely source material, the film has been met with open arms by American critics, who have fallen for this humble story about a sailor in the Kazakhstani desert who, in order to acquire the land needed to fulfill his dreams of becoming a herdsman, must marry the only eligible woman in his village, the title character. (Through Sunday, Sept. 6.)