Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Only two more days to see how well Zhangke Jia's current entry to Cannes "Ash is purest white" will do. As I have not even seen that film, let alone other entries, I really have no idea. "Mountains may depart" (2015) was good enough to be a contender three years ago although it did not bring home the Palme d'Or for Jia. Before going into that film, let's take a brief stroll down memory lane of this auteur director. From the very start in his "Fengyang (his home town) trilogy" in the mid-1990s, with his minimalist style, pain sticking attention to details and a heart that embraces whatever he tries to capture in his films, sixth generation director Jia has stayed true to his course, not succumbing to impersonating Hollywood as some of the fifth-generation directors did, pathetically. "Xiao Wu" (1997), the middle of the aforementioned trilogy, with no plot or story, is a character depiction of a petty thief, personification of a loser. "The world" (2004), treading ever so slightly towards mainstream, continues his quest of reflecting the sometimes-painful metamorphosis that the Chinese populace was going through at the crossroad of modernization (seems so long ago now, looking back). Next came "Still life" (2006), original title "good folks of The Gorges" (not to be confused with Brecht's "Good woman of Szechwan), which won the Golden Lion at Venice. "Still life" has a story, in fact two, but is still thankfully a far cry from mainstream melodrama. Using unrelated micro stories of two protagonists, together with the macro backdrop of the Three Gorges Dam project, Jia continues to explore how life of the ordinary people is affected. With "24 City" (2008), Jia explores new grounds, using not a person but a structure of concrete and steel as the main protagonist. This is the mesmerizing story of the transformation of "Factory 420" (an aviation engine factory built in 1958) to a modern-day upscale apartment complex "24 City", which in turn serves as a motif for witnessing the vicissitudes and development of the city Chengdu. "Mountains may depart", in three "acts" dated at 1999, 2004 and 2025 respectively, follows the life of a rather ordinary woman called SHEN Tao, portrayed by ZHAO Tao (I notice that in many films, in whatever language, the name of the actor is adapted for the protagonist, for simplicity's sake, I guess). Zhao, starting out from day-one as Jia's muse and sole non-amateur in the cast, married him in 2011. By that time Jia had been using some professional actors but Zhao continues to have the lead role. Set in Fengyang, Act 1 (1999) is familiar love triangle involving two suitors, Zhang the extrovert, an ambitious business man and Liang the introvert, down-to-earth coal-miner. Shen makes a not-unexpected choice and Liang leaves, taciturn outwardly and hurt deep inside. Shen marries Zhang. Act 2 (2004) follows the trajectory of two lives. Liang now has a loving and understanding wife who has given him a son (a toddler at this point). Like many coal miners, he is inflicted with lung disease. Desperation to borrow money for the medical bills brings them back to Fengyang where his wife seeks out Shen, who is well off and more than happy to help out. Shen has divorced Zhang who is now a successful businessman, remarried, living in Shanghai with custody of their son Daole (for "dollar") who goes to international school. Upon the death of Shen's father, Daole comes back (by himself, escorted by a flight attendant) to bid his grandfather a last farewell at the funeral. The scenes between mother and son are heartbreaking, as Zhang has been planning to immigrate to Australia with Daole.Act 3 (2025, but not far enough to be SciFi), is set in Australia with dialogue mostly in English, depicts the relationship teenager Daole has with two people, his father which has deteriorated beyond remedy and teacher Mai (Sylvia Chang) which is tantalizingly vague. Zhen appears only at the very end, living by herself in Beijing. I have intentionally left out all the details, the depiction of which is Jia's forte. While staying essentially art-house, this film has come a long way in becoming accessible to the mainstream audience. The range and depth of emotions is more than in any of his earlier film. Zhao has done a splendid job, breaking the audience's heart again and again. You will also note Jia's penchant for motifs. He uses a lot here, from a towering pagoda, to a glaring red wedding invitation card, to a small key. No one can convey so much through these visual images as Jia can.

For the most part, this is a beautifully written movie. The direction and acting are excellent throughout. The writing is too. although the sequence set in Australia is rather unnecessary. I have read reviews saying they found this sequence awkward. it is mostly in English. I didn't find it awkward. It just didn't bring anything to the movie. We could have been spending more time with the wonderful Tao Zhao. As I said all the performances are excellent. But it's her's you will remember, and the film does end perfectly

Saw this movie at the Rotterdam film festival (IFFR.COM) 2016. From the same film maker I saw A Touch of Sin in 2013 (saw it even twice), which experience I found marginally satisfactory (score 6/10), contrary to all positive reviews I've read before and after. I was prepared to give this successor movie as of 2015 a second chance, as it promises much more due to its intention to not only showcase a contemporary China, but also how it has changed/will change over a time span of 25 years. A daring undertaking, particularly as it is not easy to predict what the future looks like over 10 years.Overall I had three general issues. Firstly, I saw unsympathetic characters all over, none of them possible to sympathize with (maybe only Dollar, as he is the product of the others, hence not guilty). Secondly, I saw an illogical story line from begin to end. And thirdly I saw unnatural acting, of which I assume it is typically how Chinese actors behave? (I remember this vaguely from an earlier experience like this, when we were told in the final Q&A that this form of over-acting is normal in China). And I had a fourth issue, last but not least: the bold but failed attempt to cover 25 years (1999, 2014 and 2025). This time span is too large for us to jump through, needing time to pick the differences and the similarities. Especially a miserable attempt was to visualize the future (10 years ahead), because what we saw was not really futuristic and merely a slightly upgraded image of the present. A novel view on a possible future is always interesting, thought provoking at the least. Alas, this one was laughable and underestimated what can happen in 10 years time.Both movies of this film maker show that he is able to deliver an impressive product, both very watchable, but somehow neither landed with me considering its contents. Being interested in far-away countries where we know not much about, movies like this pique my interest and are more informative than what a superficial 3-weeks holiday can ever provide. A film festival like this offers an easy and accessible means to look around in the world.

Jia Zhangke is a prominent figure in contemporary world cinema as one of the leading directors of the so-called sixth generation of Chinese filmmakers. He has become known for his personal films which discuss social transition in modern China through the experience of the individual. Zhangke's latest film "Mountains May Depart" (2015) continues this in an essential, if not exactly surprising, fashion. Like "A Touch of Sin" (2013) and "Still Life" (2006), the film has an episodic structure, but narrative is much more conventional and straight-forward. While there is a lot of change in narrative focalization, "Mountains May Depart" is strongly structured around the protagonist Tao, played by the director's muse Tao Zhao, whose life unfolds before us in three distinct periods: 1999, 2014, and 2025. Thus Zhangke takes a look behind, reflects on the present, and anticipates the future of the Chinese society.As a social film, "Mountains May Depart" studies the individual in the grip of a changing world. It tackles the difficulty of communication to the extent where parents need interpreters to talk to their children. Globalization, capitalism, and the new freedom of the 21st century do not offer comfort or help, but rather appear as rootlessness, alienation, and solitude in the lives of people. All of Zhangke's films are, more or less, about change, but in "Mountains May Depart" this theme manifests itself clearly on the level of style and narrative. Zhangke's narrative includes a modernist combination of perspectives, creating a simple complexity which is never disorienting, as different characters are followed throughout the film, enhancing a pluralist sense of multitude and change. While Zhangke's style has been known as consisting of long takes and complex camera movement, "Mountains May Depart" presents a greater variety in style. Zhangke's camera keeps a short distance to the characters, mainly on the level of the medium shot, but there are also memorable establishing extreme long shots which highlight the minuteness of the individual in a vast landscape. The camera does move a lot, though perhaps subtly, but the editing rhythm is not strikingly slow. One of the most conspicuous stylistic elements of the film is the changing aspect ratio. The first episode is shot in the letterbox 4:3 ratio, the second in the contemporary standard 16:9, and the last in the widescreen format 2.35:1. This constant widening of the aspect ratio of the image reflects not only the globalization of the Chinese society and the characters moving outside of their homeland but also a more primordial experience of change that is constant in human existence. It embraces the Heraclitean flux. Thus Zhangke poeticizes the experience of change in a cinematic fashion; that is to say, he utilizes cinematic means to articulate a profound, existential experience of change. This he does by combining features that change (the aspect ratio, the focalizing perspective) with perpetual elements such as recurring songs ("Go West" by Pet Shop Boys), dramatic motifs (the dog, the keys), and the intimate cinematography. Like the characters, Zhangke's style and narrative seem to be searching for a red line, something that gives meaning and coherence in a world of change. While "Mountains May Depart" might feel like a minor work in Zhange's oeuvre, it does redeem itself for a patient spectator. Like Zhangke's other films, it too looks at the contemporary Chinese society, the inevitable transition from the perspective of the individual, and modern identity in an ever-changing world. Although there certainly is sadness to all this, Zhangke's film is also quite optimistic and bright in comparison to his previous, darker film "A Touch of Sin". Mountains may depart -- the very borders of the image may broaden -- but something will endure. It is, in fact, as if higher levels of discourse were trying to find unity amidst variety: something that remains in the perpetual flux of change.