Horse Thief

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William L Roger Ebert said that "the movies are like a machine that generates empathy". In The Horse Thief, Tian Zhuangzhuang hits upon that premise directly; with an interest in Central Asain ethnic minorities, there is an unusual shared perspective in both his intent as director and international audiences in seeking to understand a culture that feels profoundly alien, trying to display both global human kinship and the unique aspects of Tibetan culture. The film opens with one of the most distinctive ethnographic elements of the Tibetan people - the consumption of a corpse by vultures as a funeral rite. It is intensely personal, emblematic of the personal relationship that this culture maintains between religion and nature. Few explanations are offered throughout the film, leaving the audience to infer through context the significance of events that take place, and the consequences that should or should not be leveled upon the head of Norbu, a horse thief. Decades of Westerns have taught me the proper methods to respond to such an act ("a rootin'-tootin' hanging, boys"), but in this landscape convention has evolved in a completely different direction, and the narrative directly challenges the assumptions that audiences make in terms of where morality 'ought' to reside. Light on dialogue, heavy on implications. (4/5) Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/07/21 Full Review raphael g I must admit that during the first half of the movie I found it hard to get into it, because I had so many things going on in my head. Then I paused it, took a nap, woke up, did my thing, and went back to it in the evening and voila: brilliant. Spellbinding. Perhaps because there is less dialogue in the second half, it's more atmospheric. But maybe it was just my mood. Incredible cinematography. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review s r 1001 movies to see before you die. Something completely unexpected and ground breakingly personal for China. A true insight into an obscure Tibetan nomad culture and its Buddhist religion. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member The Horse Thief is a family drama of theft, banishment and dreadful reckoning, whose images captivate and haunt in equal measure. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member one of the few films which shows u things you've never seen b4 Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Interestingly hard to find, at least in my neck of the woods, so I found it on youtube. A dude steals for his family, I guess, and then some shots of Buddhist stuff. That's my oversimplified synopsis. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Horse Thief

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