這篇影評可能有劇透

I went to see this German-Mongolian movie on the last day of Osaka Asian Film Festival.

The movie is about a Mongolian girl (Wessi) who grew up in Germany went back to Mongolia searching for her roots and finally met her sister (Ossi). Two sisters try to bridge the gap after long years of separation. It is all about cultural identity, reconnection and feminism.

The movie takes people to Mongolia for a 91-minute trip. There are some scenes that showed daily life of Mongolians like slaughtering two goats by inserting an arm into their stomach cavity. Although the rape scene might show that the strength of patriarchy is everywhere. It does not say that Mongolia is a patriarchal nightmare. As Wessi says, “Men you can find everywhere, and they are all the same.” The film realizes that good and bad men can found anywhere, but it’s up to women no matter where they are to speak up and find the right, caring kind of man for themselves.

The movie is beautiful and brave. It challenges the old tradition. In Mongolian culture, women are not supposed to do the slaughter. Women are not allowed to participate while men are doing worship. Growing up in a western country, Wessi could not understand it. When no men in the house could do the goat slaughter, Wessi said, “I don’t need help, I could do the slaughter.”

Black Milk tells a personal story of finding yourself in a situation that is both foreign and familiar. The hallowed feminist message that women’s bodies belong to them is exotically dramatized in the movie as well.