Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains

"The first chapter of a planned tetralogy, DWELLING opens with a rambunctious birthday banquet of an elderly woman (Du), simply referred as mum, with her clan of four sons and, their respective families, but jollification is ironically snuffed after she is smack smitten with a stroke while jocosely doling out a "red packet", a Chinese tradition inside which banknotes are concealed, to her grandson Kangkang (Sun Zikang), who is a patient of Downs syndrome. After that, mum is taken living with her oldest son Youfu (Qian), his wife Fengjuan (Wang) and their daughter Guxi (Peng), but vicissitudes of quotidian life unfold like a Chinese stroll (the film's title is also the name of the renowned wash drawing by Huang Gongwang, 1269-1354, the oldest of the "Four Masters of the Yuan dynasty"), languidly but ineluctable, marriage arrangement, filial obligation, fraternal liaisons, illegal gravy train, generational confrontation and the shifting ethos are all too familial in the contemporary Chinese society."

reading my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks

First of all, the movie title is not a properly named one, especially in its English title. The movie title in Chinese is trying to use the Fuchun River as the backbone of the storyline, but when titled it in English, the movie producers just ludicrously borrowed an old Chinese painting title and changed the Fuchun River to Fuchun Mountain. It got nothing to do whatsoever with the mountain at all but a bunch of people who live by the river in all miserable and hopeless conditions.

Leo Tolstoy wrote in his "Anna Karenina": 'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Writer/Director Gu Xiaogang has used his own last name to create a family with the same last name, with a widow mother and four sons. None of them was happy or success, all struggling with their own difficulties but with the same dilemma when their mother got a heart attack/stroke then became senile.

The problems of this movie are many, but some were just too obviously: 1) All the characters in this movie were supposedly to be borned and grown up along the River, in the same prefecture, same city, same province of China, yet they didn't have the same local accent. There were even some obvious actors from Taiwan, I think, with even completely different accent. 2) The dialog sometimes just felt a bit awkward and unrealistic, especially the conversation between the eldest son's daughter, a kindergarten teacher, with her local boyfriend walking along the Riverg. They got two different accents but not the local one. Then the fourth son who met the young woman at the same time on the riverside, neither of them talked with the similar local accent. 3) The actress who played the Kindergarten teacher got a very long and pointed unnatural plastic chin. She looked just too out-of-place weird.

This movie inevitably forced me to think a bit cynically: Why I need to know these peoples' miserable lives, lifestyles, their daily struggles, difficulties and dilemmas, don't I have my own, too many and too much already? Same questions could be applied to: Why I need to watch those movies full of lowlifes, junkies, murderers, serial killers, prisoners, drifters, grifters, criminals, con men, losers or people with dimentia or Alzheimer's disease? Do I need to know more about these kind of people to affirm how lucky that I am not one of them or not yet to become one?

This movie is just too tidbits, overly common and nothing special to the 1.4 billion Chinese minus the CCP members. I'd rather watch a documentary purely about this Fuchun River or Fuchun Mountain itself without any made-up or true story focused on the PEOPLE who live by the river or in the mountain. Then I'll deal with my own problems afterwards.

Originally DWELLING IN THE FUCHUN MOUNTAINS is the 14th century Chinese painting by the famous artist Huang Gongwang. The movie is the modern version of the painting's landscape brought to life, where the changing seasons are interwoven with human lives.

Focusing on the lives of three brothers we follow them through their troubles and tribulations. There are many plot points, but the main ones involve the two young sweethearts who decide to get married against their parents' wishes and the the life of the younger brother, that spirals out of control when he starts borrowing money from shady people.

The best thing about DWELLING is its authenticity, the characters seem to live their lives normally and unaware that the camera is following them around. The movie also transpires the feeling of abandonment, as progress invades the corners of the world it is never supposed to, inevitably changing people's lives, some for the best some for the worst.

To sit through the 2.5 hour film is a bit of a chore, but somewhat gives you a sense of accomplishment. It also does not require a lot of concentration as the story unfolds slowly and carefully like an ancient scroll, with an almost hypnotic quality, plunging you into a different world. Here the life is like Fuchun river itself - harsh bleak cold, but ultimately rewarding.

I fervently hope more people see this wonderful film. It combines the family dramas of Taiwanese masters such as Edward Yang, HOU Hsiao-hsien, and Ang Lee, with a modernity and grandness of scale seldom seen in a director's first feature.

Please, take a dive into the beautiful world stretching along the Fuchun River, and the authentic-seeming family dreams, dramas, and harsh realities, all unfolding at a gloriously measured pace that is seldom seen in films of the 21st century.

Inspired by the beautiful painting 'Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains' by Chinese painter Huang Gongwang (1269-1354), I think this is a very insightful and poetic portrayal of people in China - focusing very much on family values and the various challenges that human relationships bring with them. The film is also about a changing China - such as the technological modernisation of China - but also about things that are unchanging; namely the beautiful and breathtaking Fuchun Mountains and the Fuchun river which keeps rolling towards the sea; the picture being ultimately a testament about the beauty of nature and the importance of preserving that beauty. However - as indicated in this picture of human relationships - positive social change is inevitable and part of human evolution; such as the evolution of fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms in China. So hopefully the ruling Communist Party of China will make the necessary reforms in China, as stipulated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to ensure a harmonious and happy relationship with the International Community - as well as with the upcoming generation of China :)