Blind Mountain
"Blind Mountain" is a Chinese film with realistic characteristics. It is acted by Lu He, and directed by Yang Li. The film tells a story in the form of documentary. In the film, a young university student is abducted by human trafficker and sold to a rural countryside with little legal knowledge as wife. She is trapped in the countryside for years until rescued by police. The film is based on the true story. Unlike other commercial films, "Blind Mountain" adopted unconventional measures. Firstly, actors of this film are not professional actors buy ordinary from public. The director of this film is trying to illustrate an atmosphere in a more natural form, which makes the scenes more real and close to life. Thanks to actions of unprofessional actors, scenes of the film are presented more vividly. Actors are able to interpret their roles by their own understanding. One of actors has real-life experience of being abducted and trafficked. Such experience is lacked in other films. The scenes presented in this film are set to the background of Chinese countryside. In Chinese countryside, life in poverty tends to promote peasants to break laws for their own good. Because of the tradition with the typical rural Chinese families, family tradition is regarded to overpower laws. The director films this story in the real rural Chinese village in order to construct the atmosphere of such tradition. The film tends a dark art style; warm color tone is not found anywhere in the film. Such art style makes the audiences feel miserable life experience of main character, and gives a visual impact of depression. The effect is achieved especially when the girl is trafficked to the rural village while nobody helps her. She later understands that she is isolated because the whole village shield each other for human trafficking. Audiences can feel overwhelmingly suffocated, because the hope will almost never been expected in the film. The dark style color tone of the film strengthens such feeling. Such technique convinces the audiences that they are watch a dark story. Even in a sunny day, the director treats the scenes as it is overcast. The film does not come with background music as supplement, although it is able to heighten the atmosphere with plots and scenes. This is another unique characteristic this film carries. Audiences are only able to hear the true noise from the background, and the scripts are the actual focus. The film does not try to achieve resonance of audience by music. The only channel of knowing the plot of the film is conversations among actors. Since there is no background music, the simple conversations rather bring audiences impact and sense of reality. In China, we will hear new about abduction of women and infants from everyday newspapers and TV news. However, we have no way to understand what abducted women and babies have experienced. This film tells an ugly truth that even exists in today's China society. In the film, the word 'blind' in "Blind Mountain" includes a lot of meanings. The literal meaning of 'blind' is unable to see. However, in the film it represents the life of isolation, illiteracy, and under-civilizations in Chinese rural countryside. 'Blind' also represents the desperation and hopelessness inside the main character's heart. There is no hope, there is no help. Nobody will ever communicate with her, and she is trapped in an isolated mountainous village. The film tries to unveil village residents' lack of heart and humanity. The end of the film also brings great impact to audiences that the main character has to give up her own daughter to escape from the village. The film finally gives an impression of abducted women's miserable life that even escaped from the village; they have to suffer from the separation from who they love. (Because of the Chinese censorship, the film comes with two different endings. This essay only elaborates the ending of the version that is publicly shown in China.) "Blind Mountain" is not a commercial film. However, it brings even more impacts comparing with other commercial films. The reason is that the director chooses a story that is difficulty to believe, and uses a more realistic way to tell the audiences an inconvenient truth. "Blind Mountain" vividly illustrates image of the bottom side of Chinese society. Overall, it is a successful film.
"Blind Mountain" is a Chinese film with realistic characteristics. It is acted by Lu He, and directed by Yang Li. The film tells a story in the form of documentary. In the film, a young university student is abducted by human trafficker and sold to a rural countryside with little legal knowledge as wife. She is trapped in the countryside for years until rescued by police. The film is based on the true story. Unlike other commercial films, "Blind Mountain" adopted unconventional measures. Firstly, actors of this film are not professional actors buy ordinary from public. The director of this film is trying to illustrate an atmosphere in a more natural form, which makes the scenes more real and close to life. Thanks to actions of unprofessional actors, scenes of the film are presented more vividly. Actors are able to interpret their roles by their own understanding. One of actors has real-life experience of being abducted and trafficked. Such experience is lacked in other films. The scenes presented in this film are set to the background of Chinese countryside. In Chinese countryside, life in poverty tends to promote peasants to break laws for their own good. Because of the tradition with the typical rural Chinese families, family tradition is regarded to overpower laws. The director films this story in the real rural Chinese village in order to construct the atmosphere of such tradition. The film tends a dark art style; warm color tone is not found anywhere in the film. Such art style makes the audiences feel miserable life experience of main character, and gives a visual impact of depression. The effect is achieved especially when the girl is trafficked to the rural village while nobody helps her. She later understands that she is isolated because the whole village shield each other for human trafficking. Audiences can feel overwhelmingly suffocated, because the hope will almost never been expected in the film. The dark style color tone of the film strengthens such feeling. Such technique convinces the audiences that they are watch a dark story. Even in a sunny day, the director treats the scenes as it is overcast. The film does not come with background music as supplement, although it is able to heighten the atmosphere with plots and scenes. This is another unique characteristic this film carries. Audiences are only able to hear the true noise from the background, and the scripts are the actual focus. The film does not try to achieve resonance of audience by music. The only channel of knowing the plot of the film is conversations among actors. Since there is no background music, the simple conversations rather bring audiences impact and sense of reality. In China, we will hear new about abduction of women and infants from everyday newspapers and TV news. However, we have no way to understand what abducted women and babies have experienced. This film tells an ugly truth that even exists in today's China society. In the film, the word 'blind' in "Blind Mountain" includes a lot of meanings. The literal meaning of 'blind' is unable to see. However, in the film it represents the life of isolation, illiteracy, and under-civilizations in Chinese rural countryside. 'Blind' also represents the desperation and hopelessness inside the main character's heart. There is no hope, there is no help. Nobody will ever communicate with her, and she is trapped in an isolated mountainous village. The film tries to unveil village residents' lack of heart and humanity. The end of the film also brings great impact to audiences that the main character has to give up her own daughter to escape from the village. The film finally gives an impression of abducted women's miserable life that even escaped from the village; they have to suffer from the separation from who they love. (Because of the Chinese censorship, the film comes with two different endings. This essay only elaborates the ending of the version that is publicly shown in China.) "Blind Mountain" is not a commercial film. However, it brings even more impacts comparing with other commercial films. The reason is that the director chooses a story that is difficulty to believe, and uses a more realistic way to tell the audiences an inconvenient truth. "Blind Mountain" vividly illustrates image of the bottom side of Chinese society. Overall, it is a successful film.