Movie Review: ‘Mountain Patrol: Kekexili’
Travel Blog • Ben Keene • 04.14.06 | 2:33 PM ET
The menacing howl of the wind across a barren plateau 13,000 feet above sea level. The sharp cry of vultures circling over the carcasses of hundreds of chiru (Tibetan antelope) slaughtered for their downy fur. The crackle of flames leaping from a rusty Land Rover abandoned by suspected poachers. These are the sounds of Mountain Patrol: Kekexili, the latest dramatic release from National Geographic World Films, which opens in select theaters this weekend. I was invited to an advance screening Wednesday and was both entertained and educated.
Set in Kekexili, a nature reserve straddling China’s Qinghai Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region, “Mountain Patrol” takes as its inspiration the Wild Yak Brigade, a small group of volunteers who sacrificed salaries, health, and tragically, the lives of more than one of their own, to defend the rare chiru from poachers. Not quite the lovable documentary hit National Geographic had last year with “March of the Penguins” (or a documentary at all; this is a dramatic film with actors), I found it to be a poignant motion picture nonetheless.
“Mountain Patrol” sensitively casts the hardships endured by local populations struggling with global change against the backdrop of Central Asia’s harsh natural beauty. The film was written and directed by Lu Chaun and shot in Mandarin and Tibetan with English subtitles.
Something tells me Bob Saget hasn’t gotten around to scripting a spoof of this one yet.
—.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) is the editor of the Oxford Atlas of the World.
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