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The Horse Thief More at IMDbPro »Dao ma zei (original title)
| Index | 10 reviews in total |
12 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Chinese Cinema, 16 May 2000
Author:
Ryan Tracy (woody-55) from Newark, DE
After hearing Martin Scorsese declare Horse Thief as the #1 film of the
90s
(actually released in 1987) when co-hosting the annual "Best of" show with
Roger Ebert, I set out to see this film. Luckily, there was a copy
available in the library. Unfortunately, the library would not allow me
to
take it home. So, I was stuck watching this film on a 10 inch screen
television in a cramped cubicle with uncomfortable headphones crushing my
ears. Obviously, this was not the way that Tian intended his film to be
viewed.
Tian Zhuangzhuang's third feature, Horse Thief, is essentially
dialogue-free
and is rather slim on plot. The film is reminiscent of the silent-era
when
directors were capable of manipulating the camera to communicate their
desired idea. Basically, the film centers on the banishment of Norbu
(forcefully personified by Rigzin Tseshang in an astonishing debut), a
local
horse thief, and his wife and son. Norbu gives up stealing horses for his
wife and sets out to find a more respectable profession. When times get
rough, Norbu is confronted with the reality that he must steal again to
save
his family from the harsh, unforgiving winter.
Tian's film has a striking realistic quality to it that plays like a
documentary. In one scene, we are given the chance to watch a ritualistic
ceremony designed to please the mountain god. While this scene evokes
awe,
some scenes may be seen as quite offensive. For example, Norbu comes up
behind an unsuspecting lamb and slits its throat. The viewer is forced to
watch the animal writhe and thrash agonizingly struggling for its last
breaths. This scene, although I cannot deny its accuracy and technical
beauty, is distressing to watch. The reality of this scene is not
achieved
through use of mechanical animals and fake blood; it is achieved by the
actual killing of a lamb for the production of this film. Aside from this
painfully unpleasant section, Tian's cinematic mastery is thoroughly
evident.
Because of the deficient viewing conditions, I was only able to catch a
glimpse of Tian's overwhelmingly glorious cinematography: Norbu dolefully
places his son's dead body in the middle of a snow-covered meadow for the
gods to take. In deep focus, the camera slowly reveals Norbu's utter
aloneness and emptiness. In this one shot, Tian has created cinematic
perfection.
9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Stunning in its Elemental Power, 26 August 2002
Author:
Howard Schumann from Vancouver, B.C.
Set in 1923 against the breathtaking Tibetan landscape, The Horse Thief
describes the retribution visited upon a clan member who is stealing
horses.
With minimal plot or dialogue, it is essentially a meditation on the
Tibetan's struggle for survival in a harsh and uncompromising environment.
The film dramatizes both the everyday occurrences and the religious
rituals
that are part of the fabric of Tibetan life.
The simple tale involves Norbu (Rigzin Tseshang), a member of a clan, who
is
accused of stealing horses and temple goods to support his wife Dolma (Jiji
Dan) and their adored young son Tashi (Jamco Jayang). To keep the clan
cleansed of evil, Norbu and his family are ostracized and banished to
assume
the life of wanderers. Norbu and his family leave the clan but do not
renounce their faith. Appealing for divine intervention to keep them alive,
the family engages in Buddhist rituals such as turning the prayer wheels,
masked ceremonial dances, and prostration to Buddha.
Ultimately, their nomadic existence takes a grim personal toll. At the
point
of starvation, Norbu has to eat the newly fallen snow to give him strength,
and is forced to resume stealing to save his family from the cold winter.
The conclusion is stunning in its elemental power.
Though I was deeply moved by Tian's despairing vision and awed by the
film's
gorgeous cinematography, I found The Horse Thief to be quite demanding to
watch. The film moves very slowly with long, static shots during which the
camera remains fixed for several minutes. Also, being unfamiliar with
Tibetan culture, I sought more explanation of the significance of some
rituals, for example, the grazing of sacred sheep and the dances using
ceremonial masks. I feel, however, that The Horse Thief transcends specific
cultural limitations and achieves a universal quality in its depiction of
the importance of faith and the strength of family.
I would have liked to have seen The Horse Thief in the theater, and hear it
spoken in the original Tibetan language (it was dubbed into Mandarin).
Nonetheless, I am grateful for having received this authentic insight into
Tibetan culture, something that is uncommon in these days of Chinese
occupation. Watching this film was almost a furtive experience, like
stealing a glimpse into a beautiful and haunting secret world and
rediscovering what it means to be human.
8 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
cautious attempt of contemporary criticism, 21 November 2003
Author:
zzmale
The theme behind this movie is the same as that of Ben Ming Nian (1990)
directed by Mr. Fei Xie: criminals trying to go straight but are forced to
go back to the old ways for survival due to lack of opportunities.
The theme reflected the problem of current society, and the problem
started
in the 1980's. As one of his early works and the political climates of
China back then, it is understandable that the director adopted the
cautious
approach by using remote region such as Tibet and time setting that is
more
than half a century ago. One really needs to acknowledge the problem of
current China (and in fact, the problem of many countries), in order to
discover the link between the movie and its subtle attempt to criticize
the
contemporary society.
9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
A feast for Visual Lovers, 5 December 2000
Author:
trisha-2 (pwatkins@morpace.com) from Detroit, Michigan
Big screen is the only place to see this masterpiece. As the last of the
films viewed @ the Detroit Institute of Arts Detroit Film Theatre's Monday
Night Series, Horse Thief was fitting to be viewed last: truly the best
was
saved till last.
A Detroit Free Press reviewer gave the film only 2 stars because of a
"sorely needed script". The beauty of this film is exactly that lack of
dialogue which leaves room to enjoy the visual feast that the director
intended.
I am grateful that the film was allowed out of China at all and privileged
to view the beauty of Tibetan culture and Buddhist monk rituals, the
inside
of a Tibetan temple with rows and rows of flickering candles, the tortured
beauty of the mountainous region in summer, spring and winter and the
painful, poignant and ultimately tragic tale of a man, his wife and
children
and their lives in a region of the world that some Americans might only
see
in the pages of National Geographic.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
The vast panoramas of Tibet serve as backdrop for the exquisitely photographed The Horse Thief., 15 November 2010
Author:
I B from Mars
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
A film about individual choices and morality, The Horse Thief centres on a Tibetan man named Norbu (Rigzin Tseshang) who supports his wife and young son by stealing horses and robbing Muslim travelers at knifepoint. Director Tian Zhuangzhuang tells this timeless story in fragmentary episodes punctuated by fades to black. At the time it was made, the film's sincere curiosity about Tibetan culture and rituals could be seen as questioning China's claim to Tibet, just as its dreamlike qualities amounted to a riposte to the preceding 37 years of didactic, Maoist propaganda film-making. The authorities insisted on adding an opening caption setting the film in 1923, decades before the People's Liberation Army marched into Tibet. But the film's underlying thrust is censor-proof. By showing a man at once enslaved by his religion and flouting every tenent of its morality, it raises fundamental questions about belief systems - questions as relevant to political ideologies as to religious faiths. Seen by more people abroad than inside China (where it was effectively shelved), Tian's remarkable film is nonetheless one of the defining works of modern Chinese cinema. The film (his third as sole director) owes its existence to a short-lived policy of producing innovative films at the Xi'an Film Studio in western China, and it reflects the moment - ten years after the death of Mao - when Chinese society was beginning its convulsive transition from Stalinist communism to free-market capitalism with 'Chinese characteristics'.
A Film of Veritable Sacred Messages, which soon marred and got extolled on Tian's side, 1 December 2011
Author:
(IMDBcinephile) from United Kingdom
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I read a review on here saying that he was no Scorsese or film student
and generally a cineaste. In other words, he thought that one could
only enjoy the film if they analyse and explicate it as opposed to
absorb it. I respect that he flouts it for a lack of entertainment, but
generally speaking this film doesn't need a large overlook or analysis
(though that can explain elements such as the sheep mask and the way in
which they 'insert swords to pasture the sheep). What we must remember
is that we're entering another world that is foreign to those in the
western world.
The film warrants a high score anyway. Supposedly the year and period
is set in 1923 as the prelude purports, but actually this was
stipulated to be set in the time frame. Tian says that there's no
necessity for a time period and that the film should be seen as a film
without a period, as though it's pervasive. But taking this into
consideration the film uses an old style; it's shot on celluloid, it's
very visual compositions along with superimposition's and montages,
which almost resemble the Rocky series, so the film is definitely a
product of its time. But the truth still remains about the narrative
within.
The main character (it says his name is Luobur on my DVD, but this site
says his name is Norbu, but either way he's the focal character) has a
son, Zhaxi, who in the beginning of the film has already died to due to
illness and then gets devoured by birds, as a formation of religious
men bat a ball as though it's a chime and his body gets taken up into
the ether; this scene proved to be heavily controversial in China, but
fascinating over here. Then we go into a descent of this landscape,
where Norbu has to fend for himself and eventually cuts the strap of a
horse to sell for his own needs. The film has a ponderous lapsing, such
as when the tribal chief's father dies, and it's in this instance that
the film absorbs us and shows us how the human condition affects the
spectre as it sacredly goes in the sky... Norbu has to look after his
other son and we see how he raises it by the little drips of water he
picks up from the rain and how they bathe in the water to
overcompensate for the fact they have no bath. Dolma (on my Chinese
DVD, it says a different name wholly, but I'll disregard this) starts
to fend for herself as the silhouetted world shows. Sometimes the film
chronicles the incandescent lighting and ambient naturalistic light
that creates an unknown dynamism in film.
One of my favourite parts is when he looks over the tribe as they
chant. Now being unaccustomed to the Tibet traditions, I became
increasingly interested in the way they looked at things, masquerading
their faces with what either seems like sheep, calf or, appropriately,
a horse. It's the emotional intensity that gets me with these moments
that transpire. Tian tends to soar his score in for dramaturgical
effect or better yet use the sounds of the people around to break it.
For example, when Norbu comes to take a body into the water, he gets
stoned along with the body and though he doesn't die, it leaves a
rather perplexing effect. It can either be a negative energy or a
positive energy.
There's actually only one graphic moment craning on a sheep getting
slaughtered while the bereft Norbet lies out there in the cold shunned.
It could be looked at as dispensable and graphic, but I look at it as a
day in this individuals life. Tian, as has been said, was avant garde
in making a documentary-esque film set to the backdrop of tumultuous
times and beautifully lit mountains with lots of sacred iconography,
which end up becoming too breathtaking with its superimposition's and
the lost hope into the abyss of time.
The film is slow (a caveat and to reference the beginning of this
review), but wholly overwhelming. It sometimes can inundate you with
drama and melodrama that proves to be insignificant, such as when the
chief's Father dies and so forth. But in the end, I felt like being in
the eyes of a film maker in progress. It sometimes feels meditated at
times as well. A cultural film that can be ignored (only by those not
interested in film-making) or can be looked at as a textbook at the
instigating film.
Tian said it was more about image then plot, character and story and
though this may be a defect to the country he's in (In 1993, he made
Blue Kite, which put him in exile for a decade, so... his images
certainly were omnipotent anyway), it still sprawls over to a new
culture like Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji or Akira Kurosawa; it just demands
that you have the temerity to speak it with such vision. A scary
insight into an eerily harrowing landscape that I have never entered,
but can look at through this well done film.
Lean Outleaned, 21 December 2010
Author:
smrana9377-831-371630 from India
This is a movie about human beings living in the stark and pitiless
land of Tibet. Tibetans have a clear if not too numerous a presence in
North India and I always felt deeply curious about these strangers from
a land not too distant yet strange and mysterious. My first memories of
these people are of tattered nomads moving in groups. Today they are
educated, vocal and have prospered economically on Indian soil.The
present film is like a response to an inborn craving to visit this
land.
It is set in 1923, thus steering clear of political controversies in
China, of which Tibet is now a part. Tibet is the highest plateau in
the world, with an average altitude of 16,000 feet. Going by this film,
it also seems the most wind blown place. The mists are always floating
swiftly away and the pennants planted near temples fluttering noisily
like an array of weathercocks. I cannot remember any movie with such
splendor of cinematography, not even David Lean at his best. It is a
world of transcendent beauty. There is nothing of the picture postcard
tailor's dummy prettiness. The azure mountains, snow deserts and water
bodies live and breathe as though with the presence of stern deities.
The musical score , comprising natural sounds, muffled incantations and
a continuous drone punctuated with funereal beats of percussion
unspoken script or reverent commentary on this extra terrestrial world.
Norbu is a poor member of a nomadic tribe. He has a wife and small boy
to support. Though devout he is forced into stealing horses for
survival. He is expelled from his group under sentence of amputation if
he should return. The film follows his journey through different
regions in the course of which he loses his son to disease and sires
another one. Religion and ceremonies dominate the life of these simple
minded and plainspoken folk. Probably they need this belief as a
necessity in their lives with death and starvation constantly dangling
over them. Norbu is a god fearing person and it is only to save his
offspring from the jaws of starvation that he is driven to stealing. He
contributes a good part of his "earnings" to the temple.
Both the mood and the score is reminiscent of Tarkovsky's Stalker.
These snow blown mountains and deserts are also inhabited by a
mysterious presence hinting at realities other than the familiar. The
word mesmeric applied to this film is not a cliché but an accurate
description of it's power.
At the end of the day, people are the same--in Tibet, Calcutta or in
the US.
landscape as character, 27 November 2010
Author:
Michael Neumann from United States
This Chinese feature presents an impressive but challenging adventure for the more discriminating fans of Third World cinema, although the episodic, non-verbal style might seem to some even more remote than the high Tibetan plateaus where it was shot. There's a token storyline about a tribesman cast out from his clan for thievery, but the film is inclined more toward armchair anthropology, capturing the cryptic and obscure customs of the native Tibetans and the harsh conditions that shape their fate. Some of the cheap dubbing tends to blunt the film's impact, but at any rate the soundtrack is usually overwhelmed by the magnificent wide-screen photography, ushering the viewer into an isolated, alien world of soaring mountains and broad desert basins. This is a place where climate and terrain not only determine character, but are characters themselves: implacable, indifferent, and demanding.
Ritual and Destiny, 27 April 2010
Author:
Pierre Radulescu from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
A Tibetan village living in its universe of traditions since ever.
Harsh mountains, harsh storms and winds, flocks of vultures in the high
among scarring clouds, or pretty close over herds. Villagers find their
answers in rituals. Norbu is a horse thief, while a devout Buddhist. He
robs from the shrine offerings, while giving most of his loot to the
shrine. Banished from the community, he repents and seeks readmission.
His first son dies, a second son is born, again he needs to steal
horses.
Dao Ma Zei (The Horse Thief), made by Tian Zhuang-Zhuang in 1986, tells
us a story of such an elemental power that words are almost
unnecessary. Chinese censors insisted that the first image of the movie
should indicate a year, 1923, meaning that the story was long time
before Communist era. Actually the story is timeless.
It is, on my knowledge, only one other film director who spoke so
forcefully about a universe of rituals and traditions: Parajanov. About
the importance of the rituals, as a fundamental dimension of our system
of values.
Like Parajanov, Tian has a profound respect for traditional cultures.
Both of them, Parajanov and Tian, leave rituals freely in their movies.
No explanation is needed, the ritual speaks for itself.
But it is more than that. Life is not only ritual. Life is destiny in
the same time. You live within rituals, you live also within sin. This
paradox of human condition, to live far from godhead, while within
godhead. Norbu is a horse thief, a highwayman. He is also a devout
Buddhist. Is here destiny? Or maybe is it that sin is also necessary in
the divine order, together with rituals?
6 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
He stole more than horses, 7 December 2004
Author:
ibush from Rochester, NY
I'm not Martin Scorsese, I'm not a film student, I'm just a guy who
likes movies. I saw this film tonight and found myself a little
mystified over all the praise. I'm also not the Summer Blockbuster guy
either so that's not my justification for not gushing about this film.
I will remember the primitiveness and brutality of life in Tibet. I
will remember the colorful and confusing religious rituals. I'm sure
they'd say the same thing about Catholicism. The landscape is
beautiful, but that kind of sells itself. Why does the director take
credit for that?
As stated on other reviews there are several scenes of sheep abuse
which are less than politically correct. OK yeah, I get it, it's a
different culture. Doesn't make it easier to watch.
Working with a group of non-actors is a major hurdle to overcome and I
salute Tian for overcoming this.
I kept thinking it a bit odd that Norbu's wife had no idea what he did
for a living. I also found it a bit odd that she had no recrimination
for him after getting banished. Further more I'd have thought she'd
really see red when their son dies, probably as a result of their
standard of living after being banished. Perhaps this is a cultural
difference. I understand the director is making a political statement
in this film, but ultimately it seems fairly universal, not a product
of Chinese society specifically.
To sum up the dubbing was awful, the sound quality in general was very
poor, character development was fairly minimal and the one scene of
violence (people on people) was not very convincing. I'm sure I would
need to go to film school to find out why this film was called the best
of the decade, but if you need that much education to appreciate
something is it really worth it in the end?
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