09-23-2020, 05:31 PM
Tabei, a hunter, kills a deer only to discover a sacred stone in its mouth. As he studies it in wonderment, the weather turns, and a lightning bolt strikes him dead.
The end.
Yeah, I'm pulling this shit again.
But really, he's dead. And he's the star. But as Tibetan Buddhists perform funeral rites on him, the presiding Buddhist, Gautama Buddha, discovers the sacred stone in his hand and realizes that he's not yet done with this life. So Gautama Buddha revives Tabei and tells him that to atone for his many sins he must take the sacred stone to a remote sacred place.
That is the main thrust of the film. But complicating matters is a pair of brothers bent on killing Tabei. You see, long ago Tabei's father killed a man, and the man's two boys have grown up with the singular responsibility of avenging their father's death. Even though Tabei's father died long ago (Tabei never even knew him), in Tibetan culture the debt passes on to the son. So the two boys -- now grown men -- are after Tabei.
The thing is, in Tibetan, Tabei is a common name; and the damned fool of a younger brother is ever tracking down and killing the wrong Tabei. And boy, does the mom ever get upset with him, because it's just setting in motion a whole lot of vengeance-seekers towards their family. (One lesson one learns from this movie is that Tibetans really need to come up with more names.)
But these vengeance-seekers aren't Tabei's only worry. There's also bandits along the way, who know of the sacred stone and are willing to kill for it. Then there's the mysterious dude with the western hat who's slowly closing in. Tabei's only allies are a devoted peasant woman thanklessly tagging along after him, and a mute boy they run into on the way, who has a mask and some sort of banjo that he strums while spinning in circles, and this gives him some vision-quest abilities.
Soul on a String was nominated in many categories at the Shanghai IFF. It won for best cinematography, but that was really a cheat. Because it was filmed in Tibet. I mean, come on. If The Blaire Witch Project had been filmed in Tibet, it would have won best cinematography. While Soul on a String is worth watching just for the breathtaking panoramas, there's much more to it than just that. The cultural oddities (e.g., the proper etiquette when buying a sword), the off-kilter Tibetan social norms, making for unique scenes, several colorful characters, including a couple of notable female performances...
And there's fights. Knife fights, sword fights, you name it. But not many, as action isn't this film's selling point. It's a fascinating glimpse of life in a remote and harsh place at the end of the world. Some critics have described it as a metaphysical take on a Western, and yeah, I can sort of see that.
The end.
Yeah, I'm pulling this shit again.
But really, he's dead. And he's the star. But as Tibetan Buddhists perform funeral rites on him, the presiding Buddhist, Gautama Buddha, discovers the sacred stone in his hand and realizes that he's not yet done with this life. So Gautama Buddha revives Tabei and tells him that to atone for his many sins he must take the sacred stone to a remote sacred place.
That is the main thrust of the film. But complicating matters is a pair of brothers bent on killing Tabei. You see, long ago Tabei's father killed a man, and the man's two boys have grown up with the singular responsibility of avenging their father's death. Even though Tabei's father died long ago (Tabei never even knew him), in Tibetan culture the debt passes on to the son. So the two boys -- now grown men -- are after Tabei.
The thing is, in Tibetan, Tabei is a common name; and the damned fool of a younger brother is ever tracking down and killing the wrong Tabei. And boy, does the mom ever get upset with him, because it's just setting in motion a whole lot of vengeance-seekers towards their family. (One lesson one learns from this movie is that Tibetans really need to come up with more names.)
But these vengeance-seekers aren't Tabei's only worry. There's also bandits along the way, who know of the sacred stone and are willing to kill for it. Then there's the mysterious dude with the western hat who's slowly closing in. Tabei's only allies are a devoted peasant woman thanklessly tagging along after him, and a mute boy they run into on the way, who has a mask and some sort of banjo that he strums while spinning in circles, and this gives him some vision-quest abilities.
Soul on a String was nominated in many categories at the Shanghai IFF. It won for best cinematography, but that was really a cheat. Because it was filmed in Tibet. I mean, come on. If The Blaire Witch Project had been filmed in Tibet, it would have won best cinematography. While Soul on a String is worth watching just for the breathtaking panoramas, there's much more to it than just that. The cultural oddities (e.g., the proper etiquette when buying a sword), the off-kilter Tibetan social norms, making for unique scenes, several colorful characters, including a couple of notable female performances...
And there's fights. Knife fights, sword fights, you name it. But not many, as action isn't this film's selling point. It's a fascinating glimpse of life in a remote and harsh place at the end of the world. Some critics have described it as a metaphysical take on a Western, and yeah, I can sort of see that.
I'm nobody's pony.
