Kekexili - Mountain Patrol (2004)
Country: CHI/HK
Technical: col/2.35:1 98m
Director: Chuan Lu
Cast: Duobuji, Zhang Lei, Qi Liang
Synopsis:
On the high plains of Tibet, the native antelope is being hunted to extinction for its prized wool; only an ill-equipped, self-funded band of patrolmen stands between it and the poachers, who will not balk at murdering them in order to be able to continue the slaughter. A journalist from Beijing arrives to cover the story of such a killing and joins them on a punitive expedition.
Review:
One of those films which is almost as remarkable for the circumstances of its making as for the events themselves, it ends with the buoyant news that the antelope are on the way to recovery, but finds little space for such optimism during its running time. It is often staggeringly beautiful in its capture of the hostile wilderness through which the characters play out their Manichean struggle, with little room for mercy on either side, and the acting and realisation of action sequences are equally impressive given the conditions in which they were working. But in fact one does not dwell on these aspects too often while watching, so absorbing and desperate is the drama that unfolds.
Country: CHI/HK
Technical: col/2.35:1 98m
Director: Chuan Lu
Cast: Duobuji, Zhang Lei, Qi Liang
Synopsis:
On the high plains of Tibet, the native antelope is being hunted to extinction for its prized wool; only an ill-equipped, self-funded band of patrolmen stands between it and the poachers, who will not balk at murdering them in order to be able to continue the slaughter. A journalist from Beijing arrives to cover the story of such a killing and joins them on a punitive expedition.
Review:
One of those films which is almost as remarkable for the circumstances of its making as for the events themselves, it ends with the buoyant news that the antelope are on the way to recovery, but finds little space for such optimism during its running time. It is often staggeringly beautiful in its capture of the hostile wilderness through which the characters play out their Manichean struggle, with little room for mercy on either side, and the acting and realisation of action sequences are equally impressive given the conditions in which they were working. But in fact one does not dwell on these aspects too often while watching, so absorbing and desperate is the drama that unfolds.
Country: CHI/HK
Technical: col/2.35:1 98m
Director: Chuan Lu
Cast: Duobuji, Zhang Lei, Qi Liang
Synopsis:
On the high plains of Tibet, the native antelope is being hunted to extinction for its prized wool; only an ill-equipped, self-funded band of patrolmen stands between it and the poachers, who will not balk at murdering them in order to be able to continue the slaughter. A journalist from Beijing arrives to cover the story of such a killing and joins them on a punitive expedition.
Review:
One of those films which is almost as remarkable for the circumstances of its making as for the events themselves, it ends with the buoyant news that the antelope are on the way to recovery, but finds little space for such optimism during its running time. It is often staggeringly beautiful in its capture of the hostile wilderness through which the characters play out their Manichean struggle, with little room for mercy on either side, and the acting and realisation of action sequences are equally impressive given the conditions in which they were working. But in fact one does not dwell on these aspects too often while watching, so absorbing and desperate is the drama that unfolds.