Midway through this documentary set in Siberian village Bakhta — so remote it can be reached only by helicopter, or by boat when the river isn’t frozen solid — comes the strangest moment. It’s summer, and a boat appears bearing a nameless political candidate looking for votes with the aid of sacks of flour and a girl group that looks like the world’s worst Vegas lounge act.
Then again, any appearance by the outside world would seem out of place in Bakhta, especially with the famously weird German director Werner Herzog narrating everything in his deadpan crazy-quilt of an accent.
The footage was shot by Russian documentarian Dmitry Vasyukov, and cut from four hours down to 1 1/2 by Herzog. It maps out a year in the lives of sable trappers, focusing largely on Gennady Soloviev, who’s such a tower of self-reliance he makes his own skis.
The film is both elegiac and amazingly retro, like the nature specials that baby boomers were weaned on — although it’s not for animal lovers, unless you have a specific grudge against sables. “Happy People” is the title, but it’s virtually all men.
The filmmakers clearly feel that this is true manly living, where you shed the womenfolk and light out into a harshly beautiful landscape armed with nothing but overworked dogs and snowmobiles.
For my money, though, the most macho moment belongs to a trapper who’s working outside while covered in mosquitoes that appear only slightly smaller than luna moths. He shrugs and says, “When you’re busy, you don’t notice them that much.”