Close to Eden

Urga (, Urga — territoriya lyobvi; "Urga — Territory of Love") is a 1991 Russian drama film by Russian director, screenwriter and producer Nikita Mikhalkov. It was released in North America as Close to Eden. It depicts the friendship between a Russian truck driver and a Mongolian shepherd in Inner Mongolia. The film was an international co-production between companies based in Russia and France. It received generally positive reviews from critics. It won the Golden Lion and the European Film Award for Best Film. Story Gombo, a Mongolian shepherd, lives in a yurt in Inner Mongolia with his wife, three children, and mother. Gombo desires sexual intercourse with his wife, which puts his wife ill at unease: having a fourth child would break Chinese law. Meanwhile, Sergei, a buffoon-ish Russian truck driver falling asleep at the wheel, stops after a close call and attempts to awaken himself. His stretching turns to frolicking and he wanders off. He discovers a corpse and quickly returns to his truck, accidentally driving into the river in his haste. Back at the yurt, the family is portrayed as unsophisticated and traditional people. They work together performing simple tasks like weaving by hand and using a horse cart to work leather. Gombo's drunk, horse-riding relative rides through the scene, stopping along the way to give them a movie poster for Cobra, which displays a muscular, gun-toting Sylvester Stallone. Shortly after, Sergei is rescued by Gombo and taken to his family's yurt. Gombo's young son is stunned by the tattoos on Sergei's back, which include music notes. A comedic scene unfolds as Gombo, together with his family, go about the usual and tidy work of slaughtering and cooking a sheep, much to Sergei's horror. We continue to be entertained as Sergei courageously consumes sheep and sheep broth. At some point we find out that the carrion birds where not eating a human corpse. Gombo shows off the movie poster. Gombo's young daughter plays the accordion while Sergei takes on a distant look as he remembers fighting in the war. The next morning, Gombo's drunk, horse-riding relative rides by, stopping to give Gombo and his wife an apple and a hard-boiled egg.