"Xunzhao zhimei gengdeng" or "The Search" to give it its English name is a slow paced but beautiful film set in rural Tibet. A film Director and his cameraman go on a road trip accompanied by a local businessman and driver in search of singing and acting talent for a new film. At each new village we meet the great, the good and the down right awful! They find a young girl to play one of the main roles almost immediately but she will only perform if they reunite her with her ex-boyfriend to play alongside her. Along the way the businessman reveals he has a love story of his own which parallels that of the young girl.
I saw this at the 2009 London film festival where the film played to a packed audience but I am sorry to say there were quite a few that left before the end. Personally I think they missed out. Those that left probably had the wrong expectations when they came to the cinema. This film is not another "mountain Petrol" there are no beautiful sweeping shots of mountains or wildlife. Instead we are taken into real village life. Not picture postcard, not politically charged, just normal people doing normal things in normal lives.
Another factor that might put people off is that the "action" (this is a gentle slow paced film) is always filmed at a distance. This means that the characters are framed by the environment around them. They are placed in the context of their lives, Where they work, where they live. This is in contrast to so many modern western films where the action is always close in, right up to the actors faces.
Most of all we get the performances. The singing of the Girl from the first village is truly beautiful.
Please go see this beautiful, funny, eye opening film.
