Kekexili: Mountain Patrol

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Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (可可西里)
The Kekexili film poster.
Directed by	Lu Chuan
Produced by	Du Yang, Wang Zhonglei
Written by	Lu Chuan
Starring	Qi Liang, Tobgyal (Duo Bujie)
Distributed by	(None abroad yet)
Release date(s)	2004 (China)
Running time	90 min
Language	Mandarin, Tibetan
Budget	US$1.2 million (est.)
IMDb profile

Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (Chinese: 可可西里; pinyin: Kěkěxīlǐ) is a 2004 film by Chinese director Lu Chuan (陆川) that depicts the struggle between vigilante rangers and bands of poachers in the remote Tibetan region of Kekexili (Hoh Xil). It was inspired by the documentary Balance by Peng Hui.

The film opens with the summary execution of a patrol member by poachers and then follows, in quasi-documentary style, reporter Ga Yu (played by Qi Liang) who is sent from Beijing to investigate. In Kekexili he meets Ritai (played by Tibetan actor Tobgyal, or Duo Bujie in Mandarin); Ritai is the leader of the vigilantes who, despite poverty and the lack of any government support, roam the land to protect the endangered Tibetan antelope from extinction. Admitted into the patrol, Ga becomes a sort of embedded journalist in the hunt for the poachers across Kekexili. As the patrol, outnumbered and outgunned, persevere against all odds, the harsh landscape preys on friend and foe alike, blurring traditional distinctions between good and evil.

Despite its realistic, detached style, the film evokes the dramatic Western genre in several ways. This includes the portrayal of a masculine, harsh way of life and culture of honour at the frontier of civilization; but also the depiction of a rugged, majestic landscape (captured to great effect by cinematographer Cao Yu) that becomes a star of the film. This characterization is made explicit when the characters profess their love for their homeland, whose very name evokes "beautiful mountains, beautiful maidens" to them.

The film was shot on location in Kekexili, in both Mandarin and Tibetan languages. Except for the two leads Qi and Tobgyal, all of the cast is made of Tibetan amateur actors. Despite the low budget, development benefitted from much corporate support, being funded in majority by Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros. and Canon.

The harsh conditions took their toll on the film crew with several members falling ill, including director Lu. Also Alex Graf, production manager from Columbia Pictures, was killed on location in a car accident at age 32.

Kekexili was among the very few Mainland Chinese films to win the Golden Horse Award in Taiwan's Golden Horse Film Festival, in 2004 (another was Jiang Wen's In the Heat of the Sun in 1996) [1]. It also won the Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival in the same year.

The film had a profound impact in China in bringing attention the region and the plight of its inhabitants and endangered species. This led the Chinese government to offer much-delayed support to the protection of local species, and played a large part in the proposal of the Tibetan antelope as a candidate for official mascot of the 2008 Summer Olympics.