China is a man, a cowboy, and a remnant of days gone by, and he's finally realizing it, in Jacob Hatley's tremendously entertaining and mature short film. Combining the style and looseness of the best of 1970s films with the earthiness and toughness of classic filmmakers like Howard Hawks and Budd Boetticher, Hatley knows what he's doing and his love of the characters and settings seeps into every frame of this film. On top of that it was shot on gorgeous black and white 35mm film, on location, giving it a very non-Hollywood look. Here's hoping for more work from this young, talented director, who clearly has a more enlightened perspective than the bulk of the repetitive, mindless gunk that his contemporaries are making.
