A Chinese composer and a Kazakh musician bond through war, music, and survival in Stalin's USSR.
The feature film "The Composer" tells about the life and work of the Chinese composer Xian Xinghai in the Soviet Union, including during the evacuation to Alma-Ata, as well as about his friendship with the Kazakh composer Bakhytzhan Baykadamov.
Score
Xinghai's actual compositions woven throughout — the music IS the character.
Production
Painstaking recreation of 1940s Alma-Ata, you can practically taste the dust.
Director
Xirzat Yahup
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hu Jun learned basic Kazakh and Russian for the role; the real Xinghai never actually mastered Kazakh despite years in Alma-Ata.
This was a China-Kazakhstan co-production timed for Xinghai's 80th death anniversary, part of Belt and Road cultural diplomacy — yes, the bromance is officially geopolitical.
CN
KZ
