Mr. Tree (2011)
"Hello! Shu Xian Sheng" (original title)

A satirical tale about a village idiot who might just be a prophet.

Director:

Jie Han

Writer:

Jie Han

Stars:

Zhuo Tan, Baoqiang Wang

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Zhuo Tan	...	Xiaomei
Baoqiang Wang	...	Shu

Storyline

The vast and snowy landscapes of northern China form the striking backdrop to the story of Shu, whose name translates to 'tree' in Mandarin, a clownish mechanic who resides in a small mining village in the province of Jilin. Shu has a reputation as a slacker, a drunk and a danger to himself and others. He blinds himself temporarily while welding. He meets a fetching mute named Xiaomei who works at a massage parlor and decides to marry her, but this too falls apart. Meanwhile, Shu's village seems as doomed as he is. The film opens on a van saddled with loudspeakers, which roams the village offering consumer goods as bribes to townsfolk in the hope that they'll willingly uproot themselves to make way for modern property developments. As with so many rural places in China, a way of life is vanishing under the wheels of progress. Teased by hallucinations and haunted by tragic events from his past, Shu struggles with an ever-loosening grip on reality. Yet when one of his visions manifests ...

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

4 August 2011 (Switzerland)

Also Known As:

Mr. Tree

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beijing Bona Film & Television Culture Co., Shanghai Film Group Corporation, Xstream Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Unnecessary film about China. Nothing interesting about forced migration of villages and effects on environment

I saw this film as part of the Rotterdam Film Festival 2012. The announcement text on the festival website sounded intriguing, covering urbanization of Chinese villages, whether they want it or not.

However, the net result on screen had zero political contents. It is just some not-so-interesting story about someone not-so-interesting with his family and friends.

I badly missed information about their environment (in two senses of the word). And it has also nothing that looks like a documentary about China and the people that live there.

As far as I'm concerned, this film is unnecessary.