Zhauzhürek myng bala

Kazakhstan is fortunate in having a historical enemy to depict as bad guys without any concern for offending them, since the Dzungar Khanate went out of existence in the mid-18th century, not long after the events of this film. The exterminator of the Dzungar Khanate was of course Qing-dynasty China on their eastern front. That fact is barely mentioned in passing when Sultan Abilkhair points to his map and says the Dzungars have been cut off in the east. That was China making war on them. That Kazakhstan raised a rebel army strong enough to take on the western front in the Dzungar Wars is the stuff of epic legend. The scene right before the climactic battle has various divisions announcing their representation of all different parts of Kazakhstan. This is perfect for raising patriotic feeling over Kazakh history, while there are no remaining Dzungars to take offense at being shown as the unremittingly bad guys. What was then Dzungaria is now part of Xinjiang and is inhabited by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Manchus, and Mongols as well as Chinese. It is at peace with independent Kazakhstan. This movie cast the Kazakhs in earth tones, mostly shades of brown, while the Dzungars are uniformly in black. The story is simple and easy to follow even without knowledge of this era of Kazakh history. A band of plucky teenagers becoming heroes of their nation. Go see it and feel good for Kazakhs.