MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART. (2015) AS SEEN AT THE GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL. DIRECTED BY JIA ZHANGKE. STARRING ZHAO TAO, ZHANG YI, LIANG JINGDONG AND DONG ZIJIAN. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
Well, I absolutely loved this Chinese language film (Mandarin, to be precise), although a little tightening up in places may have served to make it even better than it is. It was screened at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, in which it was competing for the Palme d'Or. It's essentially a film of three parts, each part set in 1999, 2014 and 2025 respectively.
The heroine of the story is a lovely bright young woman called Shen Tao, who lives in the Chinese town of Fenyang. She's as cute as a button in her colourful stripy jumpers, duffel coat and long swinging ponytail. The lucky lass has two suitors, which is a tad unfair considering that some of us don't even have one, haha. See, I'm laughing which means I'm not bitter, right, guys? Right...? Humph. Let's move on...
Anyway, Tao has to choose between her two suitors, the poor but kindly and decent Liangzi and the rich coalmine magnate Zhang Jinsheng, whom we can tell early on is a real jerk who'll make Tao's life a misery if she marries him. He always has to be the best at everything. He always has to win. Tao makes her choice. For the rest of her life, she has to live with it. Did she make the right one? We don't have to wait long to find out. (But I'm not telling you guys...!)
In the second segment of the film, we see how things are working out for Tao some fifteen years on. Put it this way, the lady's not happy. Then someone from her past turns up unexpectedly and the viewer immediately thinks that he or she knows which way things are going to go, but you might be surprised at how things actually turn out. Then someone close to Tao passes away and her unhappiness intensifies. Depressed yet? Yes? Well, it's quite a sad film, haha...!
The third segment, in which we see life unfolding for a close relative of Tao's, is the bit I could have done without. I just kind of thought that the year 2025 was too far ahead in the future to hold any particular meaning for the viewer. I also felt that things hadn't been wrapped up sufficiently in the second segment to justify jumping so far ahead in time and I was left somewhat dissatisfied.
Not for anything, however, would I have missed those magnificent closing scenes which, I don't mind telling you, left me with tears streaming down my face. I'm only sorry that I can't tell you about it for fear of the dreaded spoilers, haha. It's one of the saddest, yet happiest, endings I've ever seen in my life. Visually, too, it's utterly stunning.
The whole film is beautifully shot, come to that. I loved the ice floes floating down the river, the fireworks, the traditional Chinese pagodas, the magnificent tiger behind bars at the zoo and even the bleak industrial landscapes that stretch as far as the eye can see. It's a gorgeous film to look at.
Not to depress you further or anything (!), but there are some beautifully mournful quotes that I've got to share with you or I'll burst. I mean it, I get like that when I'm over-excited. I cried when Tao said to her son as she's accompanying him back to his home/school:
'No-one can be with you all through life. We're fated to be apart.'
I'm sure that that quote could have meaning for pretty much anyone who reads it. Which of us doesn't have someone, whomever it may be, that we're separated from for whatever reason? And, although it's not a quotable quote as such, I loved it too when Tao said about her beloved elderly father who was preparing to go on a wee journey:
'His wartime friend has a birthday.'
That bit was so sweet. It conjured up visions of two old army buddies getting together once a year or every couple of years to chew the fat and bitch about their old commanding officer and wonder for the millionth time whatever became of old So-And-So and dear old Such-And-Such.
MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART should be out on home entertainment release any day now and it
would definitely be a worthy addition to any good world cinema collection. Or any good movie collection, full stop. It's truly a wonderful film. I'll leave you guys with some homework to do. Don't complain, it's only very gentle homework, you lazy lot!It's your job to find out why Tao took the 'slow train,' and to whom she gave 'a set of keys to your home,' a gift that was treasured for many years afterwards. That's it. See? I told you it wouldn't take you all night, plus it beats the hell out of geometry and algebra any day of the week...!
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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