“Lost in Beijing” director Li Yu and star Fan Bingbing reunite in emotional drama about losses and reconnections after the 2008 Schechuan earthquake
Available in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, and Ireland
on Amazon Prime Video, Vimeo on Demand, Hoopla, Viki and more at BuddhaMountainFilm.com
Synopsis:
At one point in this film, three youngsters lost in the countryside wait at a railway station called “Buddha Mountain” for a train without knowing if any will ever come. Alienated by society and their families, they move together into the home of a retired Peking opera performer. The carefree tenants and rigid landlady expose not only their conflicting lifestyles but also everyone's painful past. They gradually learn to embrace and find strength in each other despite divisions. On a trip to a remote village, a monk asks for their help to rebuild a temple among ruins from the 2008 Schechuan earthquake. The labor turns into a ritual for them to move on. This reunion of China's prominent female filmmaker Li Yu (“Dam Street, Fish and Elephant”) and the iconic star Fan Bingbing (“X-Men”, “355”) after “Lost in Beijing” is graced by Taiwan's cinematic treasure Sylvia Chang (“Mountains May Depart”, “Eat Drink Man Woman”). With an exuberant and haunting story, she inquires how individuals reconstruct their inner selves facing impermanence in all forms.
REVIEWS
“free and unexpected, real and raw, “Buddha Mountain” is the kind of movie I dream of seeing every time I sit down in a theater… the kind that stays with me long after the lights have dimmed and brightened…Never rushed and always sensitive, Li Yu paints a breathtaking, melancholy, trembling picture of the joys and sorrows that thrives in modern China today across generations.” — Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com
“Each of those dreamy montages is a thing of rough, yet breathtaking beauty… a solid, rewarding little drama well worth anyone's time and comes recommended.” — Matthew Lee, Screen Anarchy
“…the most emotionally moving experience I had in the cinema, that year. One of the best films of the decade by women of colour.” -Peter Rist, Offscreen
“…an enjoyable, gentle and touching tale, skillfully told by the emerging Li Yu. The acting is solid throughout, with Fan Bingbing and Sylvia Chang, in particular, doing an excellent job in portraying their troubled characters.” — Sabina Pasaniuc, CineVue
“Plumbing the depths of the generation gap, helmer Li Yu (“Lost in Beijing”) reaches an Asian indie apex with her earthy, energetic drama “Buddha Mountain.”” — Russel Edwards, Variety
“Three friends mature and a grieving mother embraces life anew in writer-director Li Yu's graceful exploration of loss and connection in “”Buddha Mountain,”” a film that could easily have been a rote, melodramatic weeper but is saved from that fate by some astute writing, strong performances and an almost utter dearth of expected devices…a treatnot commonly found in mainstream Asian cinema.” – Elizabeth Kerr, Hollywood Reporter
