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Kekexili Review
Friday, March 25, 2005-10:33 AM
This morning I revisited parts of one of my favorite Chinese movies this year, Kekexili. Even though Kekexili doesn't benefit from names like Wong Kar-Wai or Zhang Yimou in its credits, it turns out to be more interesting than 2046 or even House of Flying Daggers.
Before seeing the movie, I was afraid it was going to end up being just an excuse to make a movie in Tibet. After I saw the opening sequence, which explained how a vigilante group had been established to stop the poaching of Tibetan Antelope in the wilderness region of Kekexili, I thought it might be a campaign to save endangered animals.
What it turned out to be was a story set up a lot like Apocalypse Now, one guy obsessed in his hunt for a criminal, heading deeper and deeper into a war zone.
It didn't show the Tibetan people as a monolithic group of saintly buddhists. In fact, most of the characters were armed. But, it did manage to capture some of the scenery I'd like to catch a glimpse of when I visit Tibet.
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