Internet streaming of video can be a great thing. Through Youtube I was able to view a classic “Roger Ebert and the Movies” episode in which Ebert and guest Martin Scorsese named their favorite films of the 1990s. Upon hearing that Tian Zhuangzhuang’s The Horse Thief (released in China in 1986 but not imported to the U.S. until the 90s) was my favorite director’s pick for the best film of the decade, I immediately wanted to see the movie myself. Unfortunately, streamed video has its downside as well. Though I was able to find a subtitled version of The Horse Thief online, I’m afraid that its pixilated quality left something to be desired, all the more disappointing when I realized how visually expressive of a film it is.
I’ve viewed several films lately without the assistance of subtitles. This has garnered mixed results, but my commitment to finish the 1001 titles is strong, and I’m always searching for the best viewing experience possible. In the case of this film, I would have gladly traded subtitles for higher quality video. The story needs little superfluous explanation. A man, Norbu, is exiled from his Tibetan tribe when he is convicted of horse theft. The elders believe that he will bring poor favor from the mountain god. He is cast out and takes his wife and young son to live in the remote wilderness. Though he tries to reform, the harsh realities of the brutal winter and ensuing disease take hold. In order to feed his family and cure his son, Norbu is forced to steal again. One son dies and another is born. The cycle seems destined to continue. Zhuangzhuang is relatively unconcerned with plot. Though Norbu’s story is heartbreaking, his presence is allegorical rather than literal. His suffering is the suffering of all. Zhuangzhuang suggests this through long wide takes that pit Norbu and his family against devastating and bleak backgrounds. Yet images of nature here are not entirely restricted to the brutal. Quite moments near mountain springs imply Norbu’s eternal hope. These elements of vastness are juxtaposed with images of the tribe’s religious architecture, and hint at a balance to be found between the natural and manufactured worlds. Movement and superimposition are Zhuangzhuang’s tools and he uses them with great effectiveness.
The camera, as in a Scorsese picture, always seems to be moving, even if only subtly, suggesting our involvement in Norbu’s life. However, in perhaps the film’s most striking shot it holds steady on Norbu, who having given up all hope slaughters a holy lamb to feed his wife and child. The animal bleeds to death from the throat as it gasps its final breaths, squirming to fight off death. For a brief moment Norbu and the lamb are one and the same, fighting the same inevitability. The shot wasn’t created in post-production or with special effects. The non-actor Rigzin Tseshang performs the act, killing the lamb for the sake of the picture in the way animals have been slaughtered for millennia.
Life is a struggle; much less so now than ever before. The Horse Thief is a film dedicated to a portrayal of that struggle, and to that end it is a success. Personally, I must – for now at least – count it as a great disappointment. Given the opportunity to see the film again in better quality I would certainly take it, but the muddled version I saw left much to be desired. I suspect that even in pristine quality this film might be difficult to engage, but such is life.
Language: Mandarin
Runtime: 88 Minutes
Available @dailymotion.com
Grade: 1.5 Hats Off
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