Buddha Mountain (2010)
Wandering teenagers and audiences search for purpose in this film.
Presentation:
This Chinese film has an indie auteur style with grainy film and naturally lit gloomy overcast. A band of misfit rascals that you’ll condemn but also fall in love with, the beautiful Fan Bing Bing particularly gives a stellar performance. Very similar in tone to the disillusionment of Garden State but for Chinese audiences, it quite accurately depicts the poor, industrial, brutalistic railroads and broken down apartments in China. The biggest takeaway is the charming cast assembled here, which is quite rare to form such subtle chemistry in Chinese cinema.
Conclusion:
If you wanted to follow some teenagers running around aimlessly, falling in love and finding purpose, this could be a great film. Unfortunately that’s all you’re gonna get because Chinese films are still creatively stifled by censorship and there is no punchline or final message for the emotional love letter to youth. You either feel it or don’t, and that will be the basis of whether you like the film. Still, one of the few Chinese films I can recommend despite having a disappointing finish.
Recommendations
Love only exists when you hit play.