Kekexili: Mountain Patrol
| Kekexili: Mountain Patrol 2004 film | |
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The Kekexili film poster.
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| Directed by | Lu Chuan |
| Produced by | Du Yang Wang Zhonglei |
| Written by | Lu Chuan |
| Starring |
Qi Liang Tobgyal (Duo Bujie) |
| Music by | Zai Lao |
| Cinematography | Cao Yu |
| Distributed by | Huayi Brothers |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | China |
| Language |
Mandarin Tibetan |
| Budget | US$1.2 million (est.) |
Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (Chinese: 可可西里; pinyin: Kěkěxīlǐ) (ཨ་ཆེན་གངས་རྒྱལ། in Tibetan) is a 2004 film by Chinese director Lu Chuan that depicts the struggle between vigilante rangers and bands of poachers in the remote Tibetan region of Kekexili (Hoh Xil). It was inspired by the documentary Balance by Peng Hui.
Despite its realistic, detached style, the film evokes the dramatic Western genre in several ways. This includes the portrayal of a masculine, harsh way of life and culture of honor at the frontier of civilization; but also the depiction of a rugged, majestic landscape (captured to great effect by cinematographer Cao Yu) that becomes a star of the film. This characterization is made explicit when the characters profess their love for their homeland, whose very name evokes "beautiful mountains, beautiful maidens" to them.
The film was inspired by the Wild Yak Brigade, a real-life volunteer group that patrolled the Tibetan Plateau during the 1990s, and events that took place between 1993-1996.
The film opens with the summary execution of a patrol member by poachers and then follows, in quasi-documentary style, reporter Ga Yu (played by Zhang Lei) who is sent from Beijing to investigate. In Kekexili he meets Ritai (played by Tibetan actor Tobgyal, or Duo Bujie (多布杰) in Mandarin) at the Sky burial of the deceased patrol member. Ritai is the leader of the vigilantes who, despite poverty and the lack of any government support, roam the land to protect the endangered Tibetan antelope from extinction. Admitted into the patrol, Ga becomes a sort of embedded journalist in the hunt for the poachers across Kekexili.
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Wikipedia