Mu ma ren

A veritable orgy of nationalism and melodrama....the common thread throughout 90% of Xie Jin's films. The notable exception is Furong Zhen.

A sent down youth finds love and happiness in the inner Mongolia countryside. The father who abandoned the family years earlier returns from abroad, now a wealthy capitalist, and summons his son to meet him in Beijing. Our protagonist is compelled choose between joining his father in the USA and claiming his inheritance, or returning to adoring wife and cuddly son and the idyllic life as a herdsman.

Setting aside the Hallmark-like indulgences of the director, the film can be viewed as a commentary on temptations of the West as China reopened to western cultural influences and opened the door to study abroad.

Beautiful view and beautiful story. It is a movie about love. The love of husband and wife. The love of son and father. The love of people and Nation and our country. In the movie it gives an argument between spirit wealth and material rich. US and Chinese people had different viewpoint. US view based on humanity and body requirement. It was absolute correct because we are human beings, people right and wealth is people chasing. Well in Chinese culture we are a member of a family, a team and a Nation. So we believe our life was a stream from the whole Nation. There was a music saying, Chinese people and the Nation just like a spray and the ocean. This idea United Chinese people together. I am so happy could see such a good movie which was same age as myself. I was chasing Hollywood movies all the time. But this movie gave me much more than the heroic stories. Long live our country. Long live our nation.

Just like the movie Tian Yun Shan Chuan Qi (Legend of Mount Sky Cloud) released in 1980, this movie is not nationalistic at all. Instead, it is philosophical, and in fact, a rather simple one: Money cannot buy you happiness or true love.

Besides the Taoist philosophical theme mentioned above, there is an also pragmatism reflected: the herdsman is near his forties and it would be really difficult to adjust to a completely new life style, in fact, not only adjusting, but actually learning. Furthermore, the problem would be greater for the family: the wife and child would face the same dilemma if they went with him, but if he went along, there would also be the problems caused by long-term separation.

The pragmatism is another Taoism philosophy, which was especially popular in the post Cultural Revolution era: After the pro-long political turmoil, people would not dream of luxury, a simple happy life with a loving family is the best. This is the true theme of the movie.