Time Network Special Article Director Wanma Tsedan's posthumous work "Snow Leopard" was quietly released during the Qingming holiday. The film won the Best Film Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival for its outstanding artistic quality.
However, such a well-known work in the international film industry has been "coldly received" in the mainland market.
The proportion of films scheduled on the first day of release was 0.4%, the box office on the first day was only 450,000 yuan, and the cumulative box office in the three days of release was only 1.76 million.
Snow Leopard
What kind of story does Snow Leopard tell, and is it worth going to the theater?
Time Jun will take you to this movie with a unique temperament today.
A snow leopard, to live or to perish?
The story of "Snow Leopard" takes place somewhere in contemporary Qinghai, where the sheepfold of herdsman Jinba (played by Jinba) was raided by a snow leopard at night, and 9 sheep died in the leopard's mouth. When the snow leopard was too full to jump into the sheepfold, Jinba and his family found it and raised it with barbed wire, and the snow leopard was trapped in it.
Kim Ba called the township government and hoped that someone would deal with the matter. He told visiting reporters that he would take revenge on the snow leopard if he did not receive compensation.
According to statistics, there are currently about 7,000 snow leopards in the world, and about 4,500 snow leopards in the mainland, and their activities are found in Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang and other places. Qinghai Province is located on a plateau, and it is not easy for snow leopards to forage in the mountains in winter, so there are occasional incidents of snow leopards attacking herders' sheep.
After hearing about the incident of the snow leopard eating sheep, the director Wanma Tseden was inspired to create, and thus completed the script creation of "Snow Leopard". The movie "Snow Leopard" realizes the integration of ideology and ornamentation. The director not only expressed his personal thoughts, but also took into account the audience's appreciation requirements, and the film has three remarkable points.
First of all, the story is concise and intense. The story of "Snow Leopard" takes place over two days and two nights, focusing on the residence of the Kim Ba family, and all the people and events revolve around the snow leopard trapped in the sheepfold, which is highly in line with the structure of the triadium of the play.
The film cuts to the chase a few minutes after the opening minutes, and the moment the audience sees the snow leopard, they are drawn to its fate. The plot of the whole movie is promoted quickly and powerfully, just like a commercial film in one go, and the snow leopard's departure and stay have become a "drama". As a victim, the herdsman Jinba constantly played a value game with the lama, his family, and the deputy head of the township. He is a staunch defender of his interests, and while others protect the snow leopard, they don't want Jinba to break the law. The circumstance of several characters strengthens the dramatic conflict of the whole incident.
Secondly, the snow leopard has superb special effects. "Snow Leopard" makes extensive use of computer special effects, a first for a film by Wanma Tseden. The snow leopard in the film is beautifully crafted, with lifelike expressions, realistic movements, and delicate fur.
The snow leopard in the movie has gone so far as to be fake, and it even takes on part of the acting work in the film. The snow leopard is alert and fierce when it first appears, but gradually becomes more restrained and calm, and it slowly begins to understand humans. Although the snow leopard has a very limited role in expressing emotions, it plays a role in putting the finishing touch.
Third, multiple perspectives. The snow leopard bites the sheep to death, and the film unfolds in multiple perspectives, striving to let the audience see a more comprehensive story context.
The opening scene of the film introduces the event from the media perspective of journalist Zaden (played by Gengden Phuntsok), who wants to get valuable news. After that, the Snow Leopard Lama (played by Caiding Tashi), the herdsman Jinba, the deputy township chief and other characters appeared one after another, representing the perspective of monks, the masses, and the government. Each character looks at the problem from a different perspective and comes to a completely different conclusion, and quarrels and disagreements are inevitable.
There aren't many characters in Snow Leopard, but they come from different areas of society. Through a snow leopard eating sheep incident, the director vividly portrays different images of herdsmen, lamas, journalists, civil servants, etc., and outlines a group portrait of contemporary Tibetan characters.
The film uses gorgeous scenery and twists and turns in the story to form a unique audio-visual experience. Such a high-quality reality movie deserves to be seen on the big screen.
Herdsmen and lamas, anger and compassion
"Snow Leopard" has a highly focused storyline, character conflicts, and an imminent tension.
Each character in the story presents distinct and extreme personality traits, giving the actors ample room to perform.
Although the two brothers in the film, herdsman Jinba and Snow Leopard Lama, did not clash head-on, their completely different personalities and different perspectives on the problem made the two stand on opposite ends of the incident.
Actor Jinba plays the role of herdsman Jinba in the film. He has collaborated with Wanma Tseden many times, and his wonderful performances have been featured in "Killing a Sheep" and "Balloon". The herdsman in "Snow Leopard" is impatient and determined, and is a character who is not easy to mess with.
The emotional output of herdsman Jinba fluctuated, and he was emotional when he first met the reporter, and he made a series of speeches to express his indignation at the snow leopard eating sheep. He discussed the snow leopard issue with the deputy head of the township, and the two disagreed and quarreled and pushed, and broke up unhappily. The next moment, Jinba saw that they only ate biscuits and drank cold water for lunch, took out milk tea and mutton to entertain each other, and expressed his heartache about the loss of the lamb. It can be seen that the herdsman Jinba is not blindly reckless, he also has a delicate side.
Actor Jinba's every performance is full of emotions, and the audience can really feel the sourness and contradictions in the character's heart. He keeps saying that he wants to hurt the leopard, but it always feels like a bluff. The snow leopard is the spirit of nature, how can a pious herdsman be ruthless?
The role of the herdsman Jinba is complex and vivid on the screen, and the audience will feel that this is not a role being interpreted, but a real herdsman entering the movie.
The Snow Leopard Lama, the younger brother of herdsman Jinba, was known as the Snow Leopard Lama because he was a young monk and liked to photograph snow leopards with his camera. He heard that the snow leopard was trapped in his brother's sheepfold and hurried home to rescue the snow leopard.
The Snow Leopard Lama has a compassionate heart and loves animals and the natural world. The character of the herdsman Jinba is characterized by "movement", and the characteristic of the snow leopard lama is "quiet", and he always looks at problems with the attitude of equality of all beings. Wanting to settle the dispute from the bottom of his heart, he offered to sell the expensive camera so that he could compensate for his brother's loss.
Actor Tin Tashi's performance in the film rarely has mood swings, because the Snow Leopard Lama has become a monk and sees through life and death. This character is more like a representative of the natural world, and it is up to him to resolve the conflict between the snow leopard and the herder.
Tatein Tashi grasped the character's ethereal and pure temperament, treated humans and snow leopards with a loving attitude, and through his performance, added an otherworldly atmosphere to the film.
Wanma Caidan, who is heading for the international film industry
On May 8, 2023, director Wanma Tseden passed away due to a sudden illness at the age of 53.
His departure is a great loss to the Chinese film industry.
Wanma Tseden's film lens always focuses on the people and events of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, filming the customs, daily life, joys and sorrows here. His films have become a window into the real life of Tibetans today.
His first feature film, The Silent Mani Stone, was released in 2006 and tells the story of a young lama who is attracted to a television program and is both curious and bewildered by the impact of local culture and modern civilization. The following year, Wanma Tseden won the Best Directorial Debut Award at the 25th Golden Rooster Awards for this film.
"The Quiet Mani Stone" is shot with non-professional actors, and the story goes deep into the Tibetan people, bringing the audience a strong atmosphere of real life. This film established the directorial style of Wanma Tseden, and his subsequent film works involve all aspects of the contemporary Tibetan people, and the creative techniques are all derived from "The Quiet Mani Stone".
Since then, his films have continued to achieve artistic success at home and abroad. In 2011, "Old Dog" won the Best Work Award at the Tokyo Future International Film Festival in Japan. In 2015, "Talo" won the Best Adapted Screenplay Award at the Golden Horse Film Awards in Taiwan, China. In 2018, "Killing a Sheep" won the Best Screenplay Award in the Horizon Unit of the 75th Venice Film Festival.
Wanma Tseden's film career is thriving, and he also pays attention to cultivating and supporting new film talents. He has successively supervised the production of works by young directors such as "Back to the South", "He and Royer Dell", "One Man's Funeral", and discovered new directors for Chinese films. "Snow Leopard" continues his consistent humanistic feelings, paying attention to life and respecting life.
The film was first shortlisted for the 75th Venice Film Festival Horizon Unit, and then won the Best Film Award in the main competition unit of the 35th Tokyo International Film Festival. Wanma Tseden poured his love for all things in nature and created "Snow Leopard" that has bloomed in the world film industry.
The director pays attention to the phenomena of life and analyzes the essence of life, and "Snow Leopard" leaves a narrative image for the current herdsmen's life. Therefore, the film has extremely high value in three aspects: art, history, and society.
Director Wanma Tseden has dedicated most of his life to Tibetan films, and his works and achievements will be engraved in the annals of Chinese film history.
Author: Cui Ting
Editor: Donnie Yen