Kekexili

Kekekili is a mountainous wilderness in Tibet, home to the Tibetan antelope - now an endangered species since their fur became a valued commodity in the west. In the early 90's a group of volunteers formed to protect the antelope from poachers, working with meagre resources in a hostile terrain. When one of the volunteers is murdered, a journalist from Beijing travels to Kekexili to follow the patrol and tell their story.

Tibet is a country that many in the west have a very romantic image of - a culture and lifestyle as far removed from modern, urban society as any on earth. The reality of Tibetan life in the modern age is probably that it's tough, first and foremost.

Kekexili is a simple film, telling the story with no bells and whistles or attempt to shoehorn in clichéd dramatic devices, or to make the characters fit particular archetypes. People and events are presented plainly as the patrol pursue a group of poachers over the gorgeous backdrop of the mountain wilderness, risking their lives to protect the endangered antelope - but compromising themselves ethically along the way too.

The ending is perhaps a little unsatisfying, but I guess reality can be like that :)

It is the best Chinese movie of the year I have seen. I was shocked by the story and the presentation of the movie. It took me quite a while to get out of it.

The movie talked about how a volunteer mountain patrol team fought against the poachers and protect the extincting Tibet antelopes. Due to the increasing demand for the leather and cashmere of Tibet antelopes, poachers drove the once 1 million antelopes to the edge of extinction (less than 10 thousand). A retired military officer volunteered to setup a mountain patrol to protect the antelopes and hunt the poachers.

What is touching is not the survival or dying of the antelopes but that of human beings above the 4000 meters (over 12,000 feet) high land. Wind, snow and deserts took away food from people and they could not make a living. Lots of people turned to hunt antelopes for their own being. Meanwhile, the team members of the mountain patrol were fighting for their own life while hunting the poachers. The volunteers had no government funding, no food, and no weapons. They were at great disadvantage when facing well equipped, out numbered and brutal poachers. Without any alternatives, they had to sell the skins of the antelopes they captured in order to support their duties of protecting the extincting creatures. The movie presents the brutal facts right in front of you and make me hard to breath.

The story was set in the period of 1993 to 1996, however, I highly suspect that it was an on-going cat and mouse game, and the situation of today may not be much better than what was described in the movie.

Highly recommended.

'Kekelixi' ('Mountain Patrol') is one of those quiet, quasi-documentary films that now and then rises out of nowhere and has such an impact on the viewer that it has the potential for creating some global change action. Written and directed by Chuan Lu from China and sponsored in part by National Geographic the film was distributed as 'travel/foreign places/environmental issues' product, and while it satisfies those designations, it resonates as a story that is not only based on fact, but one that opens our eyes to another way of life in a very remote area. The effect is stunning.

A journalist from Beijing - Ga Yu (Zhang Lei) - travels to Tibet to investigate the poaching of Tibetan antelope and the group of unpaid citizens committed to eradicating the poachers and saving their beloved antelope. The leader of the mountain patrol is Ri Tai (Duobuji) and he has gathered devoted men who spend their lives selflessly searching for the elusive poachers. Ga Yu goes along for the search, camera in hand, capturing the magnificence of the mountains of Tibet, the men's camaraderie and commitment to their mission, and the fields of antelope carcasses left behind by the poachers whose only concern is to skin the antelope for their pelts of luxurious wool for the world market. The patrol encounters endless problems with their equipment, food supplies, loss of men to the poachers' guns, and finally capture a group of men (a family) who serve as skinners for the pelts. Ri Tai attempts to remain fair and non-violent, but his attempts are constantly thwarted. Ga Yu changes from a journalist role to a committed hunter and his relationship with Ri Tai and the other patrolmen is exceedingly touching. The ending of the film is as quiet as the Tibetan landscape and equally as impactful.

The cast is not known to this viewer, but it is difficult to imagine that Duobuji and Zhang Lei are amateur actors, so profoundly moving are their performances. The haunting music by Lao Zai and the breathtaking cinematography by Yu Cao support Chuan Lu's film. This art piece is excellent on many levels and is one that deserves a large audience. Highly recommended.

Meaning "Beautiful mountains; beautiful maidens" in Tibetan, Kekexili is the relentless, harsh mountainous plateau in China's interior west just at the border of Tibet. Together with the splendorous scenery comes ferocious snowstorms and treacherous quicksand. It's these forces of nature that eventually brought peril to a troop of voluntary mountain patroller in the pursuit of poachers of the near-extinct Tibetan antelopes during the mid 90s.

The story of the voluntary mountain patrol is told through a Beijing report who accompanied them through a 10-day quest to track down a band of poachers who kidnapped and murdered one of their men. Led by indefatigable leader Ritai, these volunteers from all walks of life shared a common passion, there fervent love of the lordly Tibetan antelopes and hence their furious hatred of the ruthless poachers. The intensity of this passion is brought home to the audience when they witness a scene of a mountain plain littered by hundreds of carcasses of skinned antelopes in the middle of being picked clean by carrion crows, and later reinforced by a similar scene, with the skin of these antelopes spread out to dry, some with crimson bullet holes.

Filmed as a semi-documentary, Kekexili does not portray the patrollers as one-dimensional heroes as some Hollywood flicks might have done. We see them, during their red-hot pursuit, rough-handling a minor offender caught with antelope hair instead of cotton padding his coat and a couple of worm catchers who happened to have witnessed the poacher passing by. But these are minor, as we gradually come to understand that desperate for financial resources, as they were only semi-official and not paid by the provincial government, the mountain patrol resorted to selling some of the pelts they confiscated from the poachers. But the lasting impression left with us of the mountain patrol would be their humanity, their simple zest for life, their comradeship, their self-sacrificing spirit and their absolute dedication to doing what they believe in.

Kekexili is a deeply moving account of a true story crying out to be told, and has won awards in Tokyo and Taiwan. It deserves to be seen by the rest of the world.

* * *

After the first screening of Kekexili in the Hong Kong International Film Festival (22 March to 6 April 2005), young, handsome director Lu Chuan answered questions from the audience in Putonghua and respectably fluent English.

He explained that he was moved to making this film after reading the report of the Beijing photojournalist Ga Yu. The film took two years in preparation before filming, and was shot at the exact locations of the actual events. He said that in filming the story of the mountain patrol, he was not trying to provide an answer to what fuelled their devotion, but just to reflect what actually happened. On the minor questions, he explained that the five hundred odd carcasses in the film were not from killing antelopes (yes, that was the question!), but were actually from mountain goats that was the natives' normal food. And yes, he himself did try eating raw meat, as the reporter did in the movie, when offered a leg just cut from a rabbit freshly shot..

Breaking of the story by the Beijing reporter brought sensational worldwide reaction. In response, the government took strong measures and formed an official force to stamp out poaching of the antelopes. The voluntary mountain patrol, having thus achieved its goal, was disbanded. The population of the Tibetan antelope has since increased.

While I know I am biased and I will explain why, I still feel I should write and try and express the depth of feeling I have for this film.

My brother, Alex Graf was a production manager for Columbia Tri-star Asia. He was returning from the filming location in western China when he was killed in a vehicle accident.

OK, now you know why I am biased towards this film. That being said, this is a very powerful, visceral film. It is definitely not a feel good film and is, at times very hard to watch. The setting is in the western Chinese high desert. To describe the scenery as beautiful, breathtaking and desolate would be to massively understate it. What an incredibly vast, unforgiving, yet hauntingly mesmerizing landscape, and Lu Chuan takes full advantage of this. One aspect of the film that is unexpected, and demonstrates Lu Chuan's mastery of film making is that you expect to despise the poachers but somehow you end up understanding their plight as much as that of the patrol. If what I have written here still doesn't move you to see this film then see the film as see for yourself you will not be disappointed. Andrew Graf