Kekexili (Mountain Patrol)
27 February 2008, early morning
Mezan made Carvill and I watch Mountain Patrol over the weekend. It was something like the 11th time he had rented it, and he really wanted to watch it this time. His usual MO is to rent a film and then return it unwatched, thereby depriving someone else of the enjoyment of watching the movie, for one week at least. Mountain Patrol is a very cool film. It takes place in a remote corner of Tibet. (I get the feeling all the corners of Tibet are remote.) A reporter from Beijing arrives in a small town to interview a group of villagers who have set up a posse to hunt down poachers who are hunting antelopes. The captain of this group is a hard boiled dude, who leads his men and the reporter out into the wilderness in pursuit of a poacher he has been chasing for years. Howard — who showed up midway through the film to chat — commented that the film had a Moby Dick feel to it. It’s certainly a very bleak film. The cinematography is beautiful. There are lots of great landscapes to see. The actors all do a great job as well. All in all it’s a very enjoyable film.