#bakhtia

Though the hunting season falls somewhat cruelly in the colder months of autumn and winter, the film's title betrays the year-round dedication of these men to their trade. Cabins and traps, worn away constantly by the unrelenting weather, are an exhaustive job to maintain and repair; supplies for the hunting season, from chopped wood for the cabin fire to fish to feed the dog, require a squirrel's fascination to stockpiling in the warmer (a relative term at best here) months. It says much for Vasyukov and his team that they are able to capture the strain and difficulty of the trapper's way of life in the given conditions without ever compromising their own shoot. Thereafter, Herzog's narration is just the exclamation mark on a well-rounded feature; his astute observations on a unique pattern of life fit snugly within a narrative suitably dominated by the physical exertions of the trappers. Their way of life remaining remarkably unaffected by the passing of time, it is their contentedness with this state of affairs that grants them their fulfillment. "Happy People" is a simplistic way to describe it, but this is a simple life they lead.