Friendship, exile and isolation emerge as the primary focus of Chinese director Zhao Ye’s subdued and quiet, yet strikingly beautiful film Jalainur, a Mongolian word that means "ocean like lake". After more than thirty years driving a train at the coal mines in inner Mongolia, the veteran Zhu is about to retire and return home. Zhu’s younger colleague Zhihong has problems accepting this, so he accompanies his mentor on the long journey back home. Moments of both intimacy and confrontation transpire between the men, who are different in both nature and dispositions.
The cold climate and the rugged landscape are expressed by the director, who has a keen eye for how the  feeling of melancholy can be created through the expressionistic effect and extreme long-shots of pristine nature. The paradoxical of the clash between the forces of nature and human civilisation are expressed, like the children playing football on a frozen lake, or men playing basketball on a desolated plain. Zhao Ye also lets the camera linger for a long time on the flight of a plastic tarpaulin – dancing in the wind it reminds us of Zhu’s increasing awareness of the transience of time and life at the end of an epoch. lab
 

Kommentarer

Denne filmen ble visst vist på DigiBeta, som for meg så omtrent like ille ut som DVD. Hadde vært fint å få sånne opplysninger på forhånd.
Nicknu / 15. okt 2009 kl. 21:34

Vet ikke helt hvorfor jeg likte denne, da den hadde alle elementer som gjorde at den fort kunne blitt kjedelig, men det gjorde jeg. Veldig drømmeaktig foto til tider. Nesten dokumentarisk i stilen.
Decay / 16. okt 2009 kl. 09:08

Til Nicknu: står at formatet på filmen er DigiBeta i festival-katalogen.
Decay / 18. okt 2009 kl. 23:50

Filmen finnes faktisk ikke på 35mm. Var overasket over det selv for da jeg så den i Gøteborg var det nettopp fotoet som facinerte meg.
Julie / 19. okt 2009 kl. 12:41