Saturday, August 13, 2011

Mountain Patrol (2004)

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)
Mountain Patrol • Kekexili • 可可西里 (2004)

Genre: Drama Western
Director: Lu Chuan
Starring: Tobgyal (Duo Bujie), Zhang Lei, Qi Liang, Zhao Xueying
Duration: 90 min.
Rating: 8.3  

Summary:
The Tibetan Mountain Patrol, a self-sponsored volunteer regimen established to eliminate illegal poaching of endangered Tibetan Antelopes intimately engages with a half-Tibetan journalist from Beijing in a desolate depiction of human nature in the outskirts of Kekexili.



Mountain Patrol is a film written and directed by Lu Chuan (City of Life and Death).  Released in China in 2004, it subsequently won the Golden Horse Award at the 2004 Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan, and the Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Inspired by the astonishing true story of the Wild Yak Brigade, a group of volunteer patrol men from the mountainous Kekexili region of western China, who protected Tibetan antelope (Chiru) from poaching in the mid 1990's.  The film follows Ga Yu (Zhang Lei) a half Tibetan reporter from Beijing, sent to the remote region to find Ritai (Tibetan actor Tobgyal) the leader of the mountain patrol, to interview him for an article.  He ends up on a harrowing adventure, accompanying the group into the mountains in pursuit of the poachers who recently murdered one of Ritai's men.

This is a viscerally raw and at the same time breathtakingly beautiful picture.  With brutal scenes of cold blooded murder and plains littered with the carcasses of slaughtered animals freshly picked clean by vultures, all amidst an impossibly stunning yet harsh landscape.  Lu along with cinematographer Cao Yu, transform the land with remarkable imagery into a character, loved, cherished and protected by the men like family, but also a place fraught with unexpected and unforgiving danger.

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)

Always with a film that deals with issues of conservation or the environment such as this, there is a concern that it will be another manipulative propaganda piece, but Lu Chuan deftly treats the material with an even hand.  The patrolmen aren't saints who can do no wrong, and the poachers aren't simply evil greedy villains, like the wild west, these are men sometimes forced to make very difficult choices in order to survive.  This neutral point of view can also be a bit cold and distant though, making the narrative look more like a clinical documentary than a dramatic feature, and the events while still powerful on their own don't resonate emotionally as much as they could.

After seeing Mountain Patrol and City of Life and Death, I can't wait to see what Lu Chuan comes up with next.  Even if he hasn't yet mastered the nuances of storytelling, visually he is among the very best directors working today.

Bonjour Tristesse

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)

Mountain Patrol • Kekexili (2004)

4 comments:

Hoi-Ming Ng said...

Personally I like that neutral point of view.

d_4 said...

Looks like a visual masterpiece and a fair to decent story, which is enough for me to give it a go. I guess I just need balance, I think

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks Jack.  He is definitely one of the most interesting directors I have discovered recently, and I recommend checking out his work.  I managed to find his first film as well, and will be watching that soon.

Jack L said...

Great review, you definitely got me interested in this film, and the rest of this directors work.

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