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`Kekexili' is a gripping film in a bleak wilderness
The Best Picture winner of the 2004 Golden Horse Awards is the week's only Chinese-language release. But `The Wayward Cloud' is now set to come out next week in its un-cut entirety
By Yu Sen-lun
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Mar 11, 2005, Page 17
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PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA ASIA
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This week only one Chinese-language movie will be released in Taiwan and it is a must see. It is the Best Picture Award winner of the 2004 Golden Horse Awards (金馬獎) -- Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (可可西里).
Kekexili is the third-least-inhabited area in the world and is at the northwest corner of the Tibetan plateau. This movie explores the complicated nature of human existence in this bleak, extreme environment where poverty and the natural elements make life almost unbearably difficult.
Kekexili is Lu Chuan's (陸川) second feature film and delivers a style distinct from his flashy, music-video-like debut The Missing Gun (尋槍).
The film is shot with an almost documentary-like approach to tell about a Tibetan volunteer patrol chasing a ring of poachers who trade in antelope wool. The film is based on a true story witnessed by a journalist from Beijing.
Ritai (Dou Bujie) is the leader of the patrol squad and guides his team in pursuit of the poachers. He is determined to cross the snowy mountains and catch the gang leader.
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Duo Bujie, at top and above, gives an outstanding performance playing a patrol chief in Kekexili: Mountain Patrol.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF COLUMBIA ASIA
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Cinematographer Cao Yu (曹郁) presents stunning pictures of the scenery on the roads, giving nature a vital role in the plot. Its severity troubles both the patrol and the poachers, and blurs the distinction between good and evil.
Besides the excellent collaboration between director Lu and Cao, the lead actor Dou Bujie gives an impressive portrayal of the patrol leader, while most of the non-professional actors add a sense of honesty and sincerity to the film.
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The Wayward Cloud is to be released next week.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HOMEGREEN FILMS
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Coming soon
Hoping to ride the tsunami-sized wave of media hype after his triumph at the Berlin International Film Festival, Tsai Ming-liang's (蔡明亮) film company decided to release The Wayward Cloud (天邊一朵雲) on March 18.
The film marks Tsai's first attempt to cross over from art-house cinema to the mainstream, though its abundant and explicit sexual content might keep it from that categorization.
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Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (可可西里)
Language: in Mandarin and Tibetan with both Chinese and English subtitles
Screening theaters: Majestic Cinema, 7F 116 Hangzhong St, Taipei (台北市漢中街116號7樓)
Changchun Cinema, 172 Changchun Rd, Taipei (台北市長春路172號)
Running time: 96 minutes
Taiwan Release: tomorrow |
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The controversial film will play in more than 40 theaters nationwide starting next week.
Local distributor Long Hsiang Films (龍祥電影) announced last week that it acquired the rights to action film Seoul Raiders (韓城攻略), starring Tony Leung (梁朝偉), and the rights to Jay Chou's (周杰倫) debut film, Initial D (頭文字D). Seoul Raider will be released next week and Initial D will be released in Taiwan in July.
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