A wide-angle view of the Tibetan landscape
Tessman, Barry
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Review #119 of 365
Film: Mountain Patrol: Kekexili) [NR] 95 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $9.00
Where Viewed: Landmark Varsity Theatre, Seattle, WA
When 1st Seen: 10 May 2006
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Review Dedicated to: Meera P. of Seattle, WA
While it starts off seeming a lot like a documentary about a group of Tibetans who form a volunteer army to defend the endangered Tibetan antelope from extinction by poachers who secure hefty sums for their warm pelts, Mountain Patrol: Kekexili quickly turns into a grim fictional film based on the true stories of the Wild Yak Brigade from 1991 to 1996. The story begins when a reporter from a Beijing newspaper arrives in Tibet to cover the story of a Mountain Patrolman who was recently killed by emboldened poachers. He quickly establishes a working rapport with the patrol's leader, a retired Tibetan General named Ritai. Self-funded and virtually self-empowered, Ritai's band of would-be WWF volunteers lead regular patrols in mostly vain attempts to catch the poachers and stop the poaching. All the while they collect the data to demonstrate the devastating blows to the Tibetan Antelope population—over 10,000 lost per year. The 'lucky' reporter just happens to arrive in time to go along on one of the patrols, and on that patrol he ends up seeing and learning more about the tenuousness of life in a few short days than he might otherwise have found behind a desk in Beijing in a lifetime. Along the way, the Patrol encounters many challenges or tests of faith: mechanical, physical, mental, and spiritual. They catch a bunch of poachers, and use them to find the rest. Most terribly, they get separated into smaller groups without an expansion of rations or fuel. The environment grows progressively worse including sand storms and snow storms which each exacting a little more from already-exhausted men. General Ritai (Duobuji) does his best to protect the safety of his men, unfortunately, as the story progresses, he also begins to take pages, more and more, from Moby Dick and reminded me more and more of Captain Ahab in pursuit of the white whale. In the end, just like Ahab, Ritai must pay a high price for risking the lives of his men for the sweet, but all too often sour taste of revenge.
"This film is like an episode of 'Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom' where Marlon Perkins gets eaten by the lion at the end of the episode."
As it happens, this film is brutal. Did you always think quicksand was a cartoon myth? Well, guess again. From torturing witnesses to illegally selling the pelts of the animals they vowed to protect to raise cash, to abandoning everything to do with their own personal lives, the patrolmen will stop at nothing to save these animals, even if it means a loss of their own lives (think quicksand). I liked the concept for the film, but the execution and story needed major doctoring. Certainly be forewarned that this is not a cheerful movie. There is nothing uplifting about it in fact. Moreover, there is way too much time devoted to things such as Ritai's patrolmen all jumping into a river to catch a band of poachers or the men pulling together to help dislodge their truck from a river bed. This film is like an episode of "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" where Marlon Perkins gets eaten by the lion at the end of the episode.
While the acting is acceptable, and the subtitles relatively easy to read-- a limited knowledge of Mandarin would not hurt, writer/director Chuan Lu, took too long to tell this unevenly-edited story. Unfortunately, there is no pay off in the end to reward those who eagerly waited. I wondered when the film would finally start to get more viewer friendly. The end result is a movie that may well earn praise for realism and authenticity however be booed on all other accounts. This film simply doesn’t measure up.
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Mountain Patrol: Kekexili [DVD](2004) DVD
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