Harrowing but limpidly shot.
Comment
05/23/07
Blind Mountain (2008)
80
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:20
Fresh:16
Rotten:4
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: Li's characters are imperfectly drawn, and the film follows a somewhat problematic arc, but Blind Mountain is nonetheless deeply compelling viewing.
Reviews for Blind Mountain
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
With its complex (and, at times, deeply problematic) intersection of an educated outsider with the stubborn realities of rural life, Blind Mountain explicitly harkens back to those classic works from the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, like Yellow
08/08/09
Effective at showing how hard it is for even a spirited and educated woman to escape a community complicit in a brutal arranged marriage, but few characters have complexity.
12/14/08
Blind Mountain, the second film from fledgling Chinese filmmaker Li Yang, demonstrates many of the same qualities that made his first, Blind Shaft, one of the most promising directorial debuts of recent years.
10/18/08
Li's spare script works well with his choice to employ non-actors.
07/24/08
It's a harsh portrait of a brutal segment of society, only relieved by an occasional handsome landscape shot (filmed in the Shaanxi province) that makes Bai's plight all the more compelling.
07/11/08
[Director] Li was a documentarian before he switched to feature films with the highly praised 2003 feature Blind Shaft, and it shows in his raw style.
06/19/08
This is a resolutely tough-minded, beautifully crafted film so compelling as to make bearable watching the nearly unbearable.
04/25/08
Top CriticBlind Mountain becomes a tense struggle of would-be escape.
03/17/08
For all its regional specificity and grit, the majority of Blind Mountain’s turns could have come from any Hollywood-issue flick.
03/14/08
Colored fully within the lines and with scant few moments of fascination
03/13/08
For the second film in a row, [director] Li excoriates the values of an increasingly market-driven China, where people treat their fellows as products to be exploited, and scramble to get an edge on their 'competitors.'
03/13/08
Li's bold, angry film depicts a merciless society completely defined by commerce.
03/12/08
Even trimmed, the film is a stinging and frightening indictment of mainland China.
03/12/08
Blind Mountain, the second feature from Li Yang, is a reminder that art sometimes keeps the truth alive far better than the news.
03/12/08
Top CriticEasily fits the paradigm parodied by Funny Games. The difference: This movie actually has a political point.
03/11/08
The heat of empathetic outrage that Li generates from the audience is enough to make the theater combust.
03/06/08
Li's documentary approach brooks no sentimentality in its portrayal of the loss of innocence.
03/06/08
Whether one responds or not to the pic's (certainly valid) theme... pic has a deadening lack of dramatic development and a plethora of thinly drawn characters.
05/21/07
Top CriticEven though Chinese authorities forced the director to make many cuts before it could be shown in Cannes, the movie retains enormous political impact as well as being a moving drama.
05/21/07
Top Critic1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Latest News for Blind Mountain
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