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Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2006) DVD Review
Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2006) DVD Credits:
Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2006) Directed by:
Lu Chuan
Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2006) Written by:
Lu Chuan
Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2006) Cast:
Duo Bujie, Zhang Lei, Qi Liang, Zhao Xueying, Ma Zhanlin
Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2006) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2006) DVD Release Date:
28th August 2006
Our Rating: Extras Rating:

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Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2006) Synopsis:

When Beijing journalist Ga Yu arrives at the mystical camp of the Kekexili Mountain Patrol, he witnesses a Tibetan funeral and a village in mourning. Ga Yu is determined to uncover the real story behind the mysterious disappearance of patrol volunteers, the killing of rare Tibetan antelopes and the rumor that the Mountain Patrol collaborates with the poachers. Ga Yu joins a patrol headed out into 40,000 square kilometers of wilderness. The illegal hunters are like phantoms in the uninhabited land, hiding in caves, tracking the patrol members like sinister shadows, waiting for the right moment to launch their deadly attack -- the patrolmen have become the hunted. Despite the severe environment, the patrol led by Ri Tai risk their lives in the fight against the callous poachers. At first an observer, distanced by the lens of his camera, Ga Yu slowly becomes personally involved in the struggle. He gradually becomes aware that this is not just a regular patrol but a journey about life. To the patrol members, Kekexili is their homeland as well as it is the habitat of the antelopes. In the transmigration of life, they will always be on guard for the homeland. Through the eyes of Ri Tai and the other patrolmen, Ga Yu witnesses the real beauty of their lives: their faith.

Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2006) DVD Review:

Movies come from all kinds of sources, but none are so forward about the source as the films which come from real life. There are hardly ever opening title credits making certain that the audience is aware that the film they are about to watch was adapted from a novel, or a remake of a foreign film, yet the words “inspired by” and “based on” followed by the words “true story” have become a part of film language. Many times these films are adjusted for entertainment sake, or to have a more pleasing ending, but the strength in Mountain Patrol is in the simplicity of the storytelling. The events are given without comment or judgment, yet it is so gorgeously captivating in every way, and the subtleties begin to spring forth from every scene.

Mountain Patrol is based on the true events surrounding a volunteer Tibetan mountain patrol team during the mid-1990s. When a group of ruthless poachers kill one of the members of the patrol, a Bejing journalist (Zhang Lei) enters the rough terrain of the 40,000 square kilometer wilderness with the group’s leader, Ri Tai (Duo Bujie). Ri Tai passionately sets out to find the poachers, and the killer of his fellow patrolman, all in order to save the near-extinct Tibetan antelopes which are killed for their pelts. The journey takes them deep into the mountains, at times towards certain peril, but these volunteers continue on without complaint.

Mountain Patrol is a beautiful film, in many ways, but the most obvious is the aesthetically peacefulness of the harsh and brutal setting of the film. The cinematography is amazing, remarkably able to translate the mood of the setting through magnificent and epic photography. The cinematography is eerie as the situation quickly turns deadly yet the photography grows increasingly more beautiful.

The patrollers run across several problems along the journey, and by the end of the film many are left unresolved. Mountain Patrol is not an uplifting journey, but it is an incredible film for the unflinching way that it lays out each small resolution. At only 89 minutes, I would have liked for it to have continued far longer, and yet it is probably best that it was left simple.

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Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2006) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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