Nine Jie sheep in the Tibetan Jinba family were killed by a snow leopard. Jinba, his father and his brother Lama argued over how to deal with the snow leopard. Stills from the movie "Snow Leopard" (2023). Data map
Compared with other works of Wanma Tseden, "Snow Leopard" has a different aesthetic pursuit. Intense dramatic conflict scenes are presented in long shots that often last six to seven minutes or even ten minutes. The technical and spiritual realization of these long shots is amazing.
Notice: The film was shot in Maduo County, Qinghai, on an oxygen-depleted plateau more than 4,000 meters above sea level. The camera shuttles among the crowds with complex relationships, a lot of handheld photography, and the composition in motion is very calm; the actors' performances are vivid and accurate, and they can flexibly cooperate with the camera. The smooth scheduling of scenes in "Snow Leopard" once again proves that Wanma Tseden has reached a new level in filmmaking abilities.
Especially at the end of the film, a single shot lasts for more than ten minutes, and its completion is like a miracle. That scene is the climax and the end of the film. The male protagonist Jinba clashed with various forces around whether to release the snow leopard. During this process, many actors moved in an orderly manner and were full of emotions. When Jinba's father agreed to let the snow leopard go, large snowflakes fell from the sky, and then the snow became heavier and heavier.
"Snow Leopard" uses a lot of CG technology, but the celestial phenomena happening here feel real to me. Behind, heavy snow falls on the snow leopard walking away. This part should be computer-generated in the later stage. When I asked the producer of this film about this judgment, I got a positive answer. The director had been waiting for snow, and just when the emotions of the scene were being accumulated to the extreme, snow came unexpectedly. The
scene is indeed magical. The snow matched exactly the atmosphere and mood needed in the film. Actor Kimba gave a long and intense performance without any mistakes. The person who played his wife should be an amateur actor. She was stout, flushed, and carrying a child on her back. Her emotions were accurately mobilized with the development of the story. She was nervous and And helplessly watching everything happening in front of me, from worry to tears of despair, I have a strong sense of faith. I don’t know whether it was the story inside the camera or the story outside the camera that moved the world. The snow fell just like this, and the film was completed like this.
This long shot deserves to be written into film history. Wanma Tseden's artistic life continues and grows even after his death. There is nothing more gratifying than this. Watching "Snow Leopard" must be a very unique experience for me and us. The director passed away unexpectedly about 11 months ago, and now we reunite with Wanma Tseden in his posthumous work "Snow Leopard", and we have confirmed each other's eyes again. I once again saw the direction of director Wanma Tseden's efforts in film art, his accustomed narrative matrix and enduring cultural beliefs, and also saw him exploring new areas of Tibetan expression.
Even in the choice of story scenes and landforms, he is no longer limited to restoring the sight of daily life-the gray Tibetan villages. This time, he led us to beautiful snow-capped mountains and frozen plateau deep lakes, allowing us to see majestic scenery. In this way, the director expressed his praise for the nature of heaven and earth. He leads us to another spiritual realm. "Snow Leopard" not only still contains modern and ancient speculations, which are far from important in the new film, but also has muddy and incomprehensible human politics, as well as the slow unfolding of earth ethics.
Nine Jie sheep of the Jinba family were killed by a snow leopard, causing great losses. An angry Jinba refused to let the snow leopard go and demanded compensation from the government. During this process, a TV reporter came to interview, a photojournalist who spoke Mandarin was learning Tibetan, and the Tibetan reporter who appeared on the scene was in love with his girlfriend from afar... Jinba’s old father and lama brother (he likes to photograph snow leopards) Known as the Snow Leopard Lama) wants to free the snow leopard but is unable to do anything. Grassroots cadres came to persuade Jinba, but when it failed, they called the police to subdue Jinba. The heartbroken old father took out the money he planned to spend on a pilgrimage to Lhasa to solve the problem and promised the police to let the snow leopard go.
In addition to the realistic clues, there is also a surreal clue, shown in black and white images, and the story in it is like a dream.The Snow Leopard Lama once rescued the snow leopard the day before he became a monk. After a year of seclusion, the Lama was dying in the heavy snow due to lack of physical strength. At this time, he met the snow leopard again. He hoped that the snow leopard would eat him as his last resort. alms. But the snow leopard picked him up and carried him home.
Now, the Snow Leopard Lama entered the sheep pen in full view of the public and tried to talk to the Snow Leopard. At the end of the film, the snow leopard emerges from the sheep pen, which is treated as a sacred moment. The snow leopard lowered its body and walked to the lama and then to the old man. The old man stroked its back. It also came to Jinba apologetically, and Jinba asked him to go quickly. Then the snow leopard, together with the little snow leopard waiting for it nearby, disappeared into the vast white land.
The angry Jinba refused to let the snow leopard go at first, but Jinba's father and lama brother wanted to let the snow leopard go, and eventually the snow leopard was let go. Stills from the movie "Snow Leopard" (2023). Data picture
The film does not provide a detailed sociological explanation of the tragic relationship between humans and animals. But it obviously contains a complex history and the paradox of environmentalism. This is a difficult part of "Snow Leopard", and the film provides some necessary tips for this. Wanma asked reporters to show the simplified narrative of the TV station in front of the camera - because leopard bones are valuable, people hunt snow leopards, causing their numbers to decrease year by year. Now, snow leopards eat the herdsmen's sheep out of nature, and the herdsmen are about to take revenge on the snow leopards. . The
movie also allowed Kimba to express his understanding of this tragic relationship - I would like to say a few words to those who keep saying to protect snow leopards! In the past, people and snow leopards have been interdependent for generations. Snow leopards occasionally came to kill one or two sheep, and we thought it was okay. But then snow leopards became national protected animals, and herders could not touch them. Then snow leopards came to attack our cattle and sheep!
A delicate balance is broken. In the past, snow leopards also killed sheep, but they were very restrained and not as cruel as now. The number of sheep killed by snow leopards far exceeded the snow leopard's survival needs. "If it weren't for us, would the snow leopards be alive today?" We can learn from this that most of the costs of animal protection are borne by local villagers.
Some people think that the motivation for dramatic conflicts in "Snow Leopard" is not enough, and Kimba's behavior can be solved with a little compensation. But in fact, the director has worked in grassroots society for a long time and has a better understanding of local power relations than the average person. Jinba’s words have also given an answer: If I release the snow leopard first, who will I ask for money? You push it here and there...this part of the film is realism. The power relationship between the TV station and the police station is also handled very delicately. The grassroots cadre said that he would ask the police station to help handle the matter. He said to Jinba -
"You are not afraid of trouble, are you? Then I will call the police!"
Jinba He said: "I'm not afraid of the police either!"
The grassroots cadre asked him: "Aren't you afraid?"
This is still a very restrained movie by Wanma Tseden - although restrained, it is still very clear in expression. This film is still the same as before, including the familiar Tibetan semiotics of Wanma Tseden. There is room for interpretation in all modern media, Mandarin vs. Tibetan dialects, and the correspondence between herdsmen, TV reporters and police. I prefer to emphasize the renewal and advancement of Wanma Tseden's expression. The earth ethics shown in "Snow Leopard" is the new spiritual field expressed in his film. His discussion of Tibetan ethics incorporates a new element: the animals of the plateau. Although the previous " killed a sheep " and "Old Dog" were named after animals, those animals are more like cultural symbols. The snow leopard here exists more as an entity, although it also symbolizes nature.
American environmentalist pioneer Aldo Leopold created the concept of land ethics. In the past, people talked more about ethics than the relationship between people and communities, but land ethics expanded the scope to include land, rivers, forests and animals. There is no place more suitable to discuss this topic than Tibet, the hometown of Wanma Tseden. From the perspective of Tibet, the boundaries of the community are broader and more open, and the concept of symbiosis seems to flow in the blood.
Although people, snow leopards, cattle and sheep on the plateau constitute the upper and lower ends of the food chain, they are not excessive. From Jinba's words, we can get a glimpse of the truth on the plateau. They are not completely unacceptable to snow leopards occasionally eating two sheep. I remember Aldo Leopold talking about the extreme disparity in power between humans and animals due to the use of modern machinery and technology, which is the destruction of land ethics. Jinba used a crane to solve the problem of the sheepfold. Modern machinery is also an obvious symbol here. I believe the director was conscious here. Wanma Tseden has extraordinary theoretical sensitivity.
So "Snow Leopard" interprets and performs a new philosophical category. The plot of the movie may seem simple, but it is a complex contemporary fable. It involves modernity, the relationship between natural laws, customs, and government written regulations. It allows various lines of power to interweave in it, making this 109-minute movie contain The whole world poses a challenge to interpreters. And it is so consistent with the current anti-anthropocentric post-human trend of thought. I believe this is not intentional. When Wanma Tseden adapted this story from real news to show all this, it was harmonious and seamless in this Tibetan land. When the snow leopard walked out of the sheepfold, although many hearts were still aching, the compassion in the world was aroused and began to circulate and circulate in the world.
After director Wanma Tseden passed away last year, I reviewed his creations and interview records, and saw a hidden fact and concept in the gaps between his shots - the "film method". This is a big concept, and this concept is often very subtle in his previous works. I sometimes wonder if Director Wanma would still agree with this. However, there is a more straightforward expression in "Snow Leopard". The compassion in the world revealed and summoned in the film is the basic spirit of Buddhism. I see the continuation of Dharma giving and the new light of the film method. "Snow Leopard" makes me feel gratified, of course, not only because it proves my academic point of view, but also because I have witnessed the inexhaustible vitality of ten thousand talents. I am even more gratified that such a kind dharma can meet us and be able to understood by us.
Wang Xiaolu
Editor in charge Xing Renyan
