A terribly beautiful art film, one of the best works of Tian, some scenes make me thinking parajanov's "Legend of the Suram Fortress" or "Shadows of Our Ancestors".http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/fns01n6.htmlhttp://ficus-www.cs.ucla.edu/ficus-members/reiher/reviews/horse.thief.htmlUsing a simple narrative with a minimum of dialog, this film from the New Chinese Cinema, tells the tale of Norbu, a horse robber, who with his family is driven out of their tribe in an effort to purge it of evil. Their lifes changes then, to one of isolation in the harsh, barren landscape of Tibet. "It transcends both its national and regional contexts to convey things about landscapes, community, solitude and death that are staggeringly beautiful." Jonathan Rosenbaum The Chicago Reader. Featuring Tseshang Rigzin, Dan Jiji, and Jayan Jmco. The Peoples Republic of China.One of the most spectacular films to emerge from the New Chinese Cinema is Tian Zhuangzhuang's Horse Thief. It tells the tale of Norbu, a horse stealer, who is driven out by his tribe in an effort to purge it of evil. Forced to live in harsh isolation with his family, Norbu repents after the death of his son, but he must revert to stealing after the birth of another child. Using this simple narrative, with a minimum of dialogue, Horse Thief creates a visually spectacular work. It fills the screen with gorgeous Buddhist rituals captured in great detail and the vast empty landscape of Tibet accented by a dramatic use of widescreen photography. Breathtaking and mystical, Horse Thief "has the epic sweep that suggests a western told from the Native American point of view." Like Yellow Earth (Chen) before it and Red Sorghum (Yimou) and Ju Dou (Yimou/Fengliang) after, Tian Zhuangzhuang's Horse Thief confirms the vitality of filmmaking from the People's Republic of China. It is an exciting new cinema mixing the primitive with the hightly sophisticated and containing a new sense of discovery that has all but vanished from the West. "A masterpiece...filmmaking at its highest level... It transcends both its national and regional contexts to convey things about landscapes, community, solitude, and death that are staggeringly beautiful." -- Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago ReaderI don't know quite what to make of this movie. Set in Tibet in 1923, its actors are Tibetans, but their speech is dubbed into Mandarin, and the director is Chinese. So we're watching a Chinese view of old Tibet. This is by no means, however, a propaganda film meant to convince viewers that Tibetans benefitted from their so-called "liberation" by the Communist Chinese. This movie's viewpoint is personal in a non-intimate sort of way, not political. There is little dialogue. The slim story line unfolds through images of Tibetan costume, custom, countryside, and temple. Some of the episodes begged for explanation. A moody, impressionistic film.
