mountain patrol

went and saw a movie sunday afternoon with some friends.

kekexili: moutain patrol, like many chinese movies, was actually previously released in china a couple years ago. further, like many mainland chinese movie, it was thoroughly depressing and almost everyone dies at the end. nonetheless, while it was slow at times, the movie was quite good and exposed me to a part of china i'm not very familiar with. . namely the northwestern region of tibet that borders xinjiang.

in the movie, there is a civilian group that has formed the mountain patrol. their main purpose is to stop the poaching of tibetan antelope, a species that was being quickly decimated by hunters for their fur. harsh weather conditions- snow, high altitude, and deserts don't make for a great environment for farming let alone living. i appreciated how the director did not stereotype the characters into "good" and "bad" guys. instead, we see how individuals are motivated by the need to survive, greed, pride, etc.

check it out, although it's definately a downer, it's worth watching!