MOUNTAIN CRY
China, 2015, 107 minutes, Colour.
Yueting Lang, Ziyi Wang, Taishen Cheng, Ailei Yu.
Directed by Larry Yang.
Mountain Cry is a Chinese drama set in remote mountain locations in the middle of the 1980s.
The film introduces us to two characters, a young woman who is seen to be brutally raped by her husband, then cradling a baby, as they come up the mountains to a remote village. the other character is a young man from the village, rather earnest, somewhat carefree, who sets detonators to trap badgers. The location photography of the vast mountains is often breathtaking.
These two stories collide when the husband of the young woman, who is mute, is asked by his daughter to go out into the forest to collect some berries. He finds them but steps into the badger trap, his foot separated from his leg, the people from the village taking him back to his house where he dies.
There is an irony because we know of the tensions between husband and wife but the people in the village, accusing the young man of being responsible for the death, have some compassion so that the widow and children will be cared for. With a meeting of the elders, a document is drawn up to which the woman agrees that the young man will provide for the family until he is able to pay compensation.
What the audience anticipates comes to pass, that the young man is earnest in his support of the woman, that she is grateful, that they become attracted to each other, that meals are shared, work in the fields, a visit to a travelling opera company.
This performance provides the occasion for flashbacks where we see the actual story of the mute woman, of her being abducted from the opera as a child, the cruelty of the Master and his cutting her tongue, and the fact that he had murdered his wife. This gives a stronger context to what was happening in the village.
The people in the village want to cover up the situation from the police, to preserve their reputation, but it emerges that the dead man was on the run from the police and the villagers want the young woman to be expelled from their village. The initial compassion turns into crowd-mentality for ousting her.
The young man defends her. His father, from whom he was estranged, intervenes in the situation. The police do come to arrest the young man and he is willing to undergo this to save the woman.
At which stage, there is a dramatic twist in the plot, looking again at the situation of the dead man and a change of anticipated ending, an ending of pathos with issues of guilt, responsibility – although there is a final image of hope with a woman on the mountaintop banging a basin with exhilaration.
1. A Chinese drama, the 1980s, the remote village, life in the village, petty aspects, humanity?
2. The title? Han and his cry to the woman, to trap the badgers? The Mute woman at the end?
3. The location photography, the overviews of the mountains, the forests, the village? The musical score?
4. The story of The Mute, her husband and his vicious rape, the birth of the child? The story of the village, Han and his work? The flirtatious woman calling across the mountain? The trap, the detonator, the search for the berries, death?
5. The village and its response, the role of the elders, Fatboy, Han’s father, the crowd mentality, the role of the police, the decision to cover up the situation, concerned about their reputation? The hearing for Han, the discussion, the compensation, the documents, the support, The Mute signing?
6. The Mute and her children? Her husband, insulting her on his deathbed? Poverty, accepting the support at home, the meals, inviting him to share them? His response, bringing the cot, their travelling on the wagon together, working together in the fields, the possibilities?
7. The theatre, enjoying the Opera? The occasion for the flashbacks, The Mute and her childhood, with her family and Nanny, enjoying the opera, the abduction, the master, cutting her tongue? ordering her to be mute? The background to his killing his wife? On the run, the context for the life of The Mute and her children?
8. The case, the police, Han and the detailing of his caring for The Mute? The little girl and her fondness for him?
9. The flirting girl, coming to the village, her look and style, dress? Overhearing the details, gossiping? The news about the murder? Leading the group to oust The Mute?
10. The women in the group, their outcry? The men, the elders, Fatboy and his changing his position?
11. The father, the relationship with his son, tension, the past and his drinking? The son asking his favour? His going to the police and bringing them? Bringing the ailing chief of the village? Finally to care for the children?
12. The Mute, her defiance?
13. The arrival of the police, Han and his arrest? The Mute and her decision to confess, writing the document? Revisiting the situation, her knowing about the berries, urging the daughter to ask her father? Watching in the woods? The trap, the explosion, his limb, his insulting her, smothering him?
14. Han in the van, kicking the door, the mystery of his release, chasing the police car? The Mute and her looking back?
15. The pathos of the story, issues of responsibility, guilt, crowd mentality? The final image of the woman banging the basin on the top of the mountain?
