A Mongolian Tale (1997)
"Hei jun ma" (original title)

Bayinbulag and Somiya are brought up, from a young age, as brother and sister by their adoptive grandmother. The three live happily in a yurt on the Mongolian steppes. Just before ... See full summary »

Director:

Fei Xie

Writer:

Cheng-zhi Zhang

Stars:

Dalarsurong, Aojirdai, Bayirtcya

3 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Dalarsurong	...	Grandma
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aojirdai	...	Qiqig
Bayirtcya	...	Somiya (As a Child)
Gangbater	...	Father (Ba'ter)
Ganghulag	...	Bayinbulag (As a Child)
Jirigelasahan
Lasurong
Maxirdun	...	Dowasang
Renhua Na	...	Somiya
Narengima
Tengger	...	Bayinbulag
Wendilya	...	Qiqig
Fei Xie	...	Somiya

Storyline

Bayinbulag and Somiya are brought up, from a young age, as brother and sister by their adoptive grandmother. The three live happily in a yurt on the Mongolian steppes. Just before Bayinbulag is to leave for the city, to be trained as a vet, the grandmother suggests that Bayinbulag and Somiya should eventually marry. Bayinbulag, now training to be a musician, stays away for long periods of time without communicating with Somiya. He finally comes back expecting to marry her.

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Taglines:

Mongolia, 30 years ago. A Black Stallion, an orphan and the girl he loved...

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Hong Kong China

Language:

Mongolian

Release Date:

2 April 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Mongolian Tale

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beijing Youth Film Studio, China Film Co-Production Corporation, Media Asia Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Love lost in the grasslands

This 1995 film, renamed for the world market in 1997, is a travelogue-cum-love story set in the steppes of Mongolia. Helm by Chinese director Xie Fei, the story is about a Chinese boy sent to a farm in Outer Mongolia by his single father to be raised by his foster grandma.

The old woman (Dalarsurong) also has a young girl named Somiya (Bayirtcya), and the boy, Bayinbulag (Ganghulag), falls in love with her as they grow up together in the idyllic grasslands. Years later, when Bayinbulag (now played by singer-composer, Tengger) returns from his studies in the city, he proposes to Somiya (Narenhuar) and plans their wedding. However, when he discovers an incident that happened in his absence, Bayinbulag is shattered by it. He forsakes his true love and goes back to China. But Bayinbulag does not find happiness in the city. When he returns to visit Somiya 12 years later, he learns where his heart really lies and that morality derives from Nature and not from society's rules.

This touching love story, scripted by Zhang Cheng-zhi from his novel Hei Ma (Black Steed), is rather slow-moving and abstract. But there is a poetic quality in this deceptively simple tale of love, loss, redemption and forgiveness that is endearing to the discerning movie-goer.

Narenhuar, best known for her Girl from Hunan, is flawless as Somiya, a self-reliant and unspoilt woman of the grasslands.