Postmen in the Mountains: 115 km of Silence and Chinese Wisdom

      And then an hour and a half passes — and you sit there with wet eyes trying to remember the last time you hugged your parents. "Postmen in the Mountains" (literally translated from Chinese — "Those Mountains, Those People, That Dog", 16+) is just such a case.

      What it's about

      An old postman (Teng Rujun) retires due to his sick legs and persuades his superiors to take his son (Liu Ye) instead of him. The son grew up almost without a father: while dad was "wandering" (in the son's view) through the mountains with a bag, the boy saw him once a month. Now they have to walk 115 kilometers together — to show the route and at the same time understand who they are to each other. A family dog tags along with them.

      Critics: Tarkovsky in the mountains or just slow life?

      Interestingly, the 1999 film only reached normal distribution in the West by 2004. And it immediately fell into the category of "a benchmark art-house film that should be shown to film studies students so they don't relax." Some compare the visuals to "Stalker" (12+) — saying that Tarkovsky also knew how to shoot spaces that fall out of time. However, in Tarkovsky's Zone, it's scary and unclear, while in He Jianzi's film, it's beautiful and makes you want to pack a backpack. English-speaking reviewers unanimously note: the film works in shades, with minimal dialogue, but every glance from the father is already a script of three pages.

      Russian-speaking viewers on Kinopoisk (rating 7.9, by the way) are torn between "philosophical parable" and "just a warm film about dogs and mountains." One user aptly noted: "This is a journey into a reserve. There are almost no signs of humanity, not even asphalt." And indeed — it creates a feeling that civilization is far away below, and here, in the fog, people live by different laws.

      Viewers: even those who didn't plan to cry are sobbing

      The scene that breaks everyone — crossing a stream. The son, so that his father doesn't get his feet wet (he has arthritis, remember?), carries him on his back. The father sits on the son like a sack of rice, and suddenly starts to cry. At that moment, even the most seasoned cinephiles feel something click in their chest. One user recalled a Chinese saying: "If a son can carry his father on his back — then he is an adult."

      The second gut punch — a blind old woman to whom the father has been reading letters from her son for years. The problem is that the son only sent money, not a single line. And the postman composed these letters himself — about how the son got married, how well he is doing. At that moment, the son learns the truth, and his (and the viewer's) eyes begin to open.

      But not everything is so blissful. Some grumble: the film is too slow, there are no conflicts, not even a fight. The characters just walk, drink tea, sleep, and walk again. One reviewer honestly admitted: "I had been planning to watch a Chinese film for a long time — and here it is. The plot can be described in one sentence." Well, not everyone is ready for Zen meditation disguised as cinema.

      Why you should watch it right now

      In a world where news pours in like from a cornucopia and every day promises the end of the world at least twice, such films work as an antidote. There is no war, no politics, not even a television with its eternal crises. There are only mountains, fog, an old dog, and a man who simply delivers letters. This film reminds us that there are still places where the main event of the year is the arrival of the postman. And as long as such places exist, anxiety can wait a little at the door. After all, if there is an uncle who has been climbing mountains with a bag for thirty years — then not everything is so bad.

      In fact, "Postmen in the Mountains" is a trap film. You think you are watching a production drama about mail delivery, but you get a manifesto: work can be a service. The father doesn’t just deliver letters — he maintains a connection between worlds. In every village, he is awaited not as a civil servant, but as a relative. He knows who has a son in prison, who has a daughter who moved to the city, and who cannot receive a transfer in front of witnesses.

      Special thanks to the creators for not falling into sentimentality. Yes, the film is warm and fluffy, but not "syrupy." The son has been resentful of his father for his absence all his life, and now he understands: the father was just doing his job. And he did it in such a way that now following him feels like walking through a minefield of responsibility.

      Final verdict: 4/5. The point was taken off because after the film, you want to buy a ticket to the Chinese province and settle in a village without the internet...