Mountain Patrol
Director: Lu Chuan
Starring: Ma Zhanlin, Zhang Lei, Suoman Bayingyixi, Ma Bayingyixi, Ma Fuzhong
Extraordinary on many levels...because Mountain Patrol instead becomes what might be the first Chinese conservationist spaghetti western ever made.
What is remarkable is that this film is based on a true story, and filmed on the actual locations. These are hard, violent men, risking their lives to save an animal species.
This largely non-verbal picture uses only as many words (spoken in Mandarin and Tibetan, with English subtitles) as necessary, and draws you in as surely as one of his characters, in an amazing sequence, is drawn into.
A fascinating film that also benefits greatly from the stunning scenery of the Tibetan plateau and from a quicksand scene that will leave you gasping.
Films about environmental catastrophes tend to wax preachy, putting pedagogy and scolding above art. This one, for all its sorrow and the throb of righteous anger it provokes (only about 50,000 antelopes remain), is more than anything a work of creative imagination.
Best Director
Beijing Student Film Festival (2005)
Chuan Lu
Berlin International Film Festival (2005)
Best Cinematography
Golden Horse Film Festival (2004)
Best Film
Golden Rooster Awards (2005)
Best Asian Film
Hong Kong Film Awards (2006)
No lists