overview

An involving, beautifully modulated yarn about a young intellectual's "war" with two equines in a mountain village during the Cultural Revolution. A young student, Ma Jie, who is sent to a tiny Beigao village in Shanxi Province and has the mundane task of watching over livestock during the Great Cultural Revolution. Surrounded only by the extreme boredom, he initiates a war against two donkeys. What ensues as a result, is an impressive feature debut by director Li Dawei who manages to infuse a believable quirky and black humorous universe within a realistically grim setting.