# Urga
*Urga* (French release title *Urga – territoire d'amour*; Russian Урга, also known in Russian as *Урга — территория любви*, "Urga, Territory of Love") is a 1991 drama film directed by [Nikita Mikhalkov](https://www.edgepedia.org/nikita-mikhalkov), made as a co-production between France and the Soviet Union and set in the Inner Mongolian grasslands of China. It follows the friendship between Gombo, a Mongolian herder, and Sergei, a Russian truck driver whose truck breaks down on the steppe. The film won the [Golden Lion](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-lion) at the 1991 [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival) and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1993.[1](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/en/cinema/urga/) • [2](https://userpage.fu-berlin.de/corff/im/Film/urga.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Nikita Mikhalkov (born 1945), directing; screenplay by Mikhalkov and Rustam Ibragimbekov[3](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/urga-27970.html) |
| Production | France/USSR co-production; produced by Michel Seydoux; studios Camera One, Hachette Première et Cie, and UGC Images (Paris) with Studio Trite (Moscow)[2](https://userpage.fu-berlin.de/corff/im/Film/urga.html) • [4](https://www.commissionefilmcei.it/film/urga-territorio-damore/) |
| Top award | Golden Lion, 1991 Venice Film Festival; also the OCIC Award and Pasinetti Award at Venice[3](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/urga-27970.html) • [1](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/en/cinema/urga/) |
| Oscar nomination | Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1993 Academy Awards[2](https://userpage.fu-berlin.de/corff/im/Film/urga.html) |
| Filming location | Hulun Buir Aimag (Hulunbuir grassland), Inner Mongolia, China, shot around 1990/1991[2](https://userpage.fu-berlin.de/corff/im/Film/urga.html) • [5](https://mapsofmovies.com/f/close-to-eden/) |
| Leading cast | Bayaertu as Gombo, Badema as Pagma, Vladimir Gostyukhin as Sergei[3](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/urga-27970.html) |
| Release | France, 25 September 1991 (distributor AMLF)[6](https://timepilot.co/film/urga) • [3](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/urga-27970.html) |
## Spoilers
### Story
Gombo, a young Mongolian herder, lives in a yurt on the steppe with his wife Pagma, their three children, and his mother. Pagma does not want another child, and under Chinese family-planning rules a further child would be a problem for the family; she sends Gombo to the nearest city to buy condoms[5](https://mapsofmovies.com/f/close-to-eden/) • [10](https://www.cinema.nl/db/465608-urga). On the way, Sergei, a Soviet truck driver working in a nearby city, crashes his truck into a river after a near-miss and is taken in by Gombo's family. The two men from different worlds become friends, and Gombo makes the city trip in Sergei's company. He returns home with a television and a bicycle instead of the contraceptives he was sent for[5](https://mapsofmovies.com/f/close-to-eden/). On the road home Gombo falls asleep and dreams that his horse-riding relative is [Genghis Khan](https://www.edgepedia.org/genghis-khan) and the relative's wife the khan's wife[5](https://mapsofmovies.com/f/close-to-eden/).
The film closes on the open steppe near the yurt, where Gombo follows his wife outside carrying the urga, the pole with a lasso loop that herders use to catch horses and sheep[5](https://mapsofmovies.com/f/close-to-eden/).
## Title and meaning
The title refers to a real object of steppe herding life. According to an interview Mikhalkov gave the *Los Angeles Times*, the urga is a lasso-like pole with two purposes: rounding up horses, and, when planted in the ground, marking a private territory for rural Mongolian lovemaking; nobody comes within its radius[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-11-05-ca-1349-story.html). The Jerusalem Cinematheque describes it as the lasso a shepherd uses to collar sheep, and also a symbol of lovemaking and fertility[8](https://jer-cin.org.il/en/movie/43194). A Russian account of the film states that in Mongolian "urga" means a territory of love, and that this meaning was adopted on the suggestion of the Italians who were the first to see the finished picture; the working title had been "On the Hills of Manchuria" (На сопках Маньчжурии)[9](https://www.russkoekino.ru/books/ruskino/ruskino-0124.shtml).
## Production
Mikhalkov developed the project after a trip to Transbaikalia, during which [Lake Baikal](https://www.edgepedia.org/lake-baikal) made a strong impression on him; a proposal followed to make a film about nomads, with Mongolia chosen over Africa or Indonesia[9](https://www.russkoekino.ru/books/ruskino/ruskino-0124.shtml). Editor and second director Anatoly Ermilov traveled to [Inner Mongolia](https://www.edgepedia.org/inner-mongolia) and reported that [Han Chinese](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-chinese) families were permitted one child while Mongols, as a national minority, were allowed more, a distinction that became the seed of the plot. The screenplay was largely worked out during the shoot itself, around fixed elements: the landscape, the contraceptive storyline, and the Genghis Khan dream[9](https://www.russkoekino.ru/books/ruskino/ruskino-0124.shtml). The film was shot in Hulun Buir Aimag in Inner Mongolia[2](https://userpage.fu-berlin.de/corff/im/Film/urga.html), with a third act set in a border-region city where Mongolian herders, Han Chinese, and Russians mix[5](https://mapsofmovies.com/f/close-to-eden/).
Mikhalkov and the Kyiv-born cinematographer Vilen Kaluta exposed about 85,000 meters of film with no way to view rushes on location; Mikhalkov later told the *Los Angeles Times* that he had shot 65,000 meters without seeing anything and spent two weeks reviewing the footage and seven months editing after leaving[9](https://www.russkoekino.ru/books/ruskino/ruskino-0124.shtml) • [7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-11-05-ca-1349-story.html).
## Cast and crew
The two leads came from Inner Mongolia: Bayaertu, a horticulturalist turned actor, played Gombo, and Badema, a professional music-theater actress, played Pagma[2](https://userpage.fu-berlin.de/corff/im/Film/urga.html). Vladimir Gostyukhin, known for Larisa Shepitko's *The Ascent* (1977), played Sergei[3](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/urga-27970.html). Supporting roles include Larissa Kuznetsova as Marina, Sergei's wife; Baoyinhexige as Bayartu, also appearing as Genghis Khan in Gombo's dream; Bao Yongyan and Wurinile as Gombo and Pagma's children; Babouchka as Gombo's mother; and Jon Bochinski as Stanislas[3](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/urga-27970.html) • [1](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/en/cinema/urga/). Mikhalkov himself appears briefly as a cyclist[1](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/en/cinema/urga/). Eduard Artemyev, a frequent Mikhalkov collaborator who had scored *Stalker* (1979), composed the music; Joëlle Hache edited[4](https://www.commissionefilmcei.it/film/urga-territorio-damore/). The film is spoken in Mongolian, Russian, and Mandarin[1](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/en/cinema/urga/).
## Reception and awards
*Urga* won the Golden Lion for best film at the 1991 Venice Film Festival[3](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/urga-27970.html), and the 1993 European Film Award for Best Film[1](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/en/cinema/urga/). The German board FBW awarded it its highest rating, *besonders wertvoll* (especially valuable)[11](https://www.fbw-filmbewertung.com/film/urga). In the United States, distributor Miramax retitled it *Close to Eden* over Mikhalkov's objections; he recalled that the distributors surprised him with the change, thinking that title said something more about the territory of love[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-11-05-ca-1349-story.html).
A Moscow premiere at Studio Trite's presentation took place on 27 August 1992; the *Kommersant* magazine report described it as chiefly a promotional event and noted that wide Russian release was planned for October 1992[12](https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6523). Reviews of the finished film were positive abroad. The Montreal Cinémathèque lists it among classics in its History of Cinema cycle, quoting *Variety*'s description of the film as "delightful and charming"[1](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/en/cinema/urga/) • [8](https://jer-cin.org.il/en/movie/43194).
## Versions and running time
Listed running times vary between sources: 110 minutes (CinemaParadiso), 118 minutes (Deutsche Filmbewertung and the Montreal Cinémathèque), 119 minutes (Eiga.com), and 120 minutes (VPRO, Jerusalem Cinématheque, and the Italian board)[13](https://www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk/rentals/urga-14252.html) • [11](https://www.fbw-filmbewertung.com/film/urga) • [14](https://eiga.com/movie/42681/) • [10](https://www.cinema.nl/db/465608-urga) • [8](https://jer-cin.org.il/en/movie/43194). These differences reflect different release versions and rounding practices; no source gives a definitive cut.
## References
1. [Urga, Cinémathèque québécoise](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/en/cinema/urga/)
2. [Close to Eden – Urga, A film by Nikita Mikhalkov, Mingan Choct, Freie Universität Berlin](https://userpage.fu-berlin.de/corff/im/Film/urga.html)
3. [Urga, L'Officiel des spectacles (Paris)](https://www.offi.fr/cinema/evenement/urga-27970.html)
4. [Urga – Territorio d'amore, Commissione Nazionale Valutazione Film](https://www.commissionefilmcei.it/film/urga-territorio-damore/)
5. [Close to Eden (Urga) filming locations and story map, Maps of Movies](https://mapsofmovies.com/f/close-to-eden/)
6. [Film Urga (1991), Timepilot](https://timepilot.co/film/urga)
7. [Director Nikita Mikhalkov's Declaration of Independence, Los Angeles Times, 5 November 1992](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-11-05-ca-1349-story.html)
8. [Urga, Jerusalem Cinematheque – Israel Film Archive](https://jer-cin.org.il/en/movie/43194)
9. [Художественный фильм "Урга", Русское кино](https://www.russkoekino.ru/books/ruskino/ruskino-0124.shtml)
10. [Urga, VPRO Cinema](https://www.cinema.nl/db/465608-urga)
11. [Film » Urga | Deutsche Filmbewertung und Medienbewertung FBW](https://www.fbw-filmbewertung.com/film/urga)
12. [Никита Михалков и Восток, Коммерсантъ Власть №135, 31 August 1992](https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6523)
13. [Urga (1991), CinemaParadiso](https://www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk/rentals/urga-14252.html)
14. [ウルガ, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/42681/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1990s › Drama films early 1990s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license