I watched the movie Tuya’s Marriage, a 2006 Chinese movie that is set in Mongolia. The movie is about a woman who divorces her husband because of the economic strains on the family. Her husband is already injured, so Tuya is forced to work the land herself. When she suffers an injury, she must decide how to manage the marriage in terms of the economic strain on her family.
The movie is beautifully shot against a very bleak landscape. You see endless miles of the hills of Mongolia and almost feel the oppressive nature of the landscape. The plot is great to be able to discuss the nature of the marriage system in the practical sense of this particular society. The divorce is done is such a practical and low-fuss nature, you barely recognize that it has happened before people come knocking on Tuya’s door. I would use this movie in the classroom to teach inference. How do the visual images and the choices the characters make reveal a larger issue at hand?
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