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Mountains May Depart

Original title: Shan he gu ren
  • 20152015
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 2h 6m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
5.7K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Tao Zhao in Shan he gu ren (2015)
The life of Tao, and those close to her, is explored in three different time periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025.
Play trailer1:56
1 Video
99+ Photos
  • Drama
  • Romance
The life of Tao, and those close to her, is explored in three different time periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025.The life of Tao, and those close to her, is explored in three different time periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025.The life of Tao, and those close to her, is explored in three different time periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025.
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
5.7K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Zhangke Jia
  • Writer
    • Zhangke Jia
  • Stars
    • Tao Zhao
    • Yi Zhang
    • Jing Dong Liang
Top credits
  • Director
    • Zhangke Jia
  • Writer
    • Zhangke Jia
  • Stars
    • Tao Zhao
    • Yi Zhang
    • Jing Dong Liang
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 24User reviews
    • 128Critic reviews
    • 79Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 26 wins & 42 nominations

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:56
    Official Trailer

    Photos687

    Tao Zhao and Yi Zhang in Shan he gu ren (2015)
    Zhangke Jia in Shan he gu ren (2015)
    Tao Zhao and Zishan Rong in Shan he gu ren (2015)
    Tao Zhao and Zishan Rong in Shan he gu ren (2015)
    Tao Zhao in Shan he gu ren (2015)
    Shan he gu ren (2015)
    Shan he gu ren (2015)
    Tao Zhao in Shan he gu ren (2015)
    Shan he gu ren (2015)
    Shan he gu ren (2015)
    Shan he gu ren (2015)
    Shan he gu ren (2015)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Tao Zhao
    Tao Zhao
    • Shen Taoas Shen Tao
    Yi Zhang
    Yi Zhang
    • Zhang Jinshengas Zhang Jinsheng
    Jing Dong Liang
    • Liang Jangjung aka Liangzias Liang Jangjung aka Liangzi
    Zijian Dong
    Zijian Dong
    • Zhang Daole aka Dollaras Zhang Daole aka Dollar
    Sylvia Chang
    Sylvia Chang
    • Miaas Mia
    Sanming Han
    Sanming Han
    • Liangzi's friendas Liangzi's friend
    Patrick Harvey
    • Train Passengeras Train Passenger
    Russell Lambe
    • Golferas Golfer
    Lu Liu
    Lu Liu
    • Liang's Wifeas Liang's Wife
    Min Liu
    Zishan Rong
    Zishan Rong
    • Zhang Daole aka Dollar (Child)as Zhang Daole aka Dollar (Child)
    Anna Sasson
    • Travel clerkas Travel clerk
    Yee Yang
    • Travel clerkas Travel clerk
    • Director
      • Zhangke Jia
    • Writer
      • Zhangke Jia
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Some sequences (in the 1999 segment) were filmed by the director and the cinematographer back in 2001.
    • Goofs
      The young boy who plays Tao's son in 2014 is also part of the crowd of children that watches her perform at the new year's celebrations in 1999.
    • Quotes

      Mia: The hardest thing about love is caring.

    • Crazy credits
      The title appears more than forty minutes after the beginning of the movie.
    • Soundtracks
      Go West
      Written by Henri Belolo, Jacques Morali and Victor Willis, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe

      Performed by Pet Shop Boys

    User reviews24

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Admirable ambition, occasionally misguided.
    Mountains May Depart starts on perhaps my favourite opening shot of the year. Kicking it off with the Pet Shop Boys' vibrant song "Go West," we're straight in the middle of a dance routine with a room full of people clumsily bopping in sync. It's infectious and filled with unbridled hope and joy. Unfortunately, it's downhill from here, though the film is never aiming for the same type of exuberance. I'm not familiar with Jia Zhangke or his following – Walter Salles apparently has a hotly anticipated documentary about the director at this festival – but Mountains May Depart seems like an endearing and accessible introduction. Telling three stories in three separate time periods, I do enjoy the way it explores causality in how these small relationships and dramas at one time can feed into a dilemma 25 years later.

    The first story, set during the turn of the century in 1999 when Chinese capitalism was healthy, follows a love triangle between Tao, an aerobics instructor, Zhang, an egotistic entrepreneur, and Liangzi, a man who works for Zhang. The three hang out as friends but Zhang can't bear the idea of Tao getting close to Liangzi and despite emotional logic, it's social economical pressures that make decisions. Cut to 2014, Tao and her beau have divorced and she's now estranged from her son. Upon the death of her father, her son is forced to visit and she must make the decision of how connected she should be to him throughout his life. Then off to an imagined Australia in 2025, her son doesn't remember her and currently struggles with his relationship with his father where they now have a language barrier. With the help of a teacher he grows attached to, he goes in search for Tao.

    Each section of the film is approached in a different way, reminiscent of the way last year's The Grand Budapest Hotel and Mommy played with ratios. The first section is a tight 4:3, the second is a full frame, and the third is widescreen. However, these feel like they represent the period and the environment moreso than the character's emotions, with exception to the mid- section, which ideally captures Tao's regret and longing. It's a mixed bag depending on the talent, with some tender moments landing strong and some clumsily misguided, the latter most prominent in the last section. That first section has a bait and switch for the decades long heartache that the seemingly innocent love triangle causes. The theme of how people drift apart no matter how close they are resonates but it's unbearably melancholic without Zhangke offering much of a satisfying a silver lining.

    It's a shame that despite the film's strengths it has too many loose ends and unnecessary moments that don't appear to add to the character arcs or the themes. With a 25 year story like this where no single character carries us through the whole film, every moment has to count to something. There's little justification as to why the third section is in glorious widescreen and set in Australia, but perhaps this just speaks to how disconnected it is from the rest of the film. While mostly drenched in Chinese culture, I wish Zhangke didn't resort to certain American clichés such as sad montages of characters having deep thoughts set to music. However, with those time gaps, Zhangke does harness a powerful nostalgic through just a few song motifs carried through all three sections that are well executed. Both disarmingly simple and complex, his ambition is admirable, but it doesn't quite reach the potential that this expanse allows it to travel.

    7/10

    Read more @ The Awards Circuit (http://www.awardscircuit.com/)
    helpful•19
    6
    • Sergeant_Tibbs
    • Oct 17, 2015

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 30, 2015 (China)
    • Countries of origin
      • China
      • France
      • Japan
    • Official site
      • Official site (Japan)
    • Languages
      • Chinese
      • Mandarin
      • Cantonese
      • English
    • Also known as
      • 山河故人
    • Filming locations
      • Fenyang, Shanxi, China
    • Production companies
      • Shanghai Film Group
      • Xstream Pictures
      • MK2 Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $82,913
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $5,550
      • Feb 14, 2016
    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,215,660
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 6 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital

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