Xiaoxuan Jiang is an ethnic Manchurian filmmaker born and raised in Inner Mongolia, China. “Graveyard of Horses”, her latest short, has already found her way to Tallinn and SXSW and is now screening at Busan International Film Festival.
“Graveyard of Horses” is screening at Busan International Short Film Festival
The story takes place in the Mongolian steppe, during a rather harsh winter. Tanan, a young pregnant woman, is trying to take care of her little daughter, Angara, and their flock of sheep, during these harsh conditions. Her overall situation is evidently dire, and the power outages do not help at all. When wolves start closing in the area, Tanan has to find a way to fend them off before they kill her whole herd.
The Mongolian steppe always offered cinematic opportunities due to its uniqueness as a setting, either in the green fields of the summer or the covered with snow ones during the winter. Xiaoxuan Jian, as a native, knows the location and how harsh life can be there firsthand, in a trait the benefits both the visuals of the movie, and the story, which emerges as documentary-like realistic. It is through these two axes that the movie thrives.
Regarding the first, DP Tao Qiu has captured the area in the most impressive fashion (in 4:3 ratio), both its harshness and its beauty, while, in combination with the soft, quiet narration by Tanan and the fittingly slow pace, as dictated by Zale Zheng's editing, a ritualistic atmosphere that actually points towards a horror film is also created. This, however, is not a supernatural film, which brings us to the second axis, with the director showing how terrifying life in these areas can be, and how it shapes their inhabitants into becoming as hard as they can in order to survive against the forces of nature. The way Tanan has to be a caring, loving mother and at the same time, a relentless guardian highlights this comment in the most eloquent fashion, as much as the actress's (her real name is Tanan also) excellent performance. In the same path, the scene during the night is probably the most impressive in the whole film.
Xiaoxuan Jiang could have come up with a harsh, dramatic film, but her choice for the finale actually allows the movie to conclude with optimism, showing that life goes on, even in these circumstances, it only takes a bit more effort.
“Graveyard of Horses” is an impressive short, that highlights the director's knowledge of her subject as much as her eye for composition.
