Unrated, 1 hr. 27 min.
Drama, Action & Adventure
Directed By: Du Jiayi , Jiayi Du
Written By: Chang Chia-lu, Cheng Hsiao-che
In Theaters: Jun 7, 2013 Limited
Asia Releasing
We're never far away from a crude digression demoting an ethereal sense of artistry to hunkered-down artifice.
An act of brotherly love, an adventure, an endurance test, a spiritual test and a dangerous trek; these are all the descriptions that fit One Mile Above, which has been likened to The Motorcycle Diaries
Review by Andrew L. Urban:
An act of brotherly love, an adventure, an endurance test, a spiritual test and a dangerous trek; these are all the descriptions that fit 1 Mile Above, which has been likened to The Motorcycle Diaries. There is indeed a superficial similarity between the two films, both based on true stories, both stories of an epic ride across vast distances; the former on a motorbike across Latin America, this on a pushbike across China and Tibet.
But the similarities are not important; the differences are. In this less sophisticated film, we are less engaged, mostly because we hardly get to know Shuhau (Bryan Chang). Not only is the dialogue sparse, the focus is on the cycling across often striking terrain, the emphasis on the undulations of altitude, climbing and dropping several thousand metres, exhausting the traveller.
There is, however, one touching stop-over, when Shuhau and his newly acquired cycling companion, Xiaochuan (Li Xiaochuan), take refuge with a young widow, her parents in law and her small son, all of whom take a shine to Shuhau - and he to them, ending in a tearful parting. Inside this modest home I would have liked the camera to be less restless, letting us explore this fascinating culture in more detail.
Elsewhere, too, the camera seems to be trying more to hide details than to show them, inlcuding some crucial scenes of misadventure. From the way the film I shot, we are tempted to think that perhaps the cameraman is trying to emulate the hand held syndrome fashionable in Hollywood. Let's hope not.
After a nasty accident, Shuhau is alone again on the long and winding road - all up, 1100 kilometres of it. It's almost too much for him at times ... almost.
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