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Mongolian Ping-Pong
Directed by: Hao Ning
Starring: Hurichabilike
Genre:
Foreign
Run Time: 102
min.
Release Date:
August 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
In the vein of THE GODS
MUST BE CRAZY, Chinese director Hao Ning captures a similar theme in
MONGOLIAN PING PONG, but instead of a coke bottle this time it’s
a ping pong ball.
Seven-year-old Bilike lives on the Great Mongolian Steppe in a landscape
of vast plains ruled by nomads-of-ol’. He survives with his family and
friends in a fairly mundane cycle of life until one day he discovers a
strange, white ball floating down a nearby river. He quickly grasps it
and sets himself on an adventure. No one has ever seen anything like
this ball. His bewitching grandmother tells him it’s a good-luck item
from the gods. Others think it might be a magical pearl. Bilike and his
friends are enchanted and try to figure it out on their own. Traveling
to wise monks, policeman, and eventually to Beijing, Bilike eventually
finds out the truth about this rather ordinary object as he is forced to
grow up.
Although similar in plotting to The Gods Must Be Crazy,
Mongolian Ping Pong has better usage of camera, lighting and
landscape. The panoramic vistas of the Mongolian Steppe are, without a
doubt, absolutely magnificent. The location plays perhaps a more central
character than the characters themselves. Which caused a few problems.
Hao Ning (director) lets the camera linger on these beautiful shots too
often and for too long, making the pacing agonizingly slow (although
beautiful, one can only watch so much of this before it gets a bit
tiring). Employing no-name actors is fairly common in films such as
this, but it’s very evident that none of these people (kids and adults
alike) have very little if any acting experience, making many character
sequences fall flat or wooden.
The initial quality of the filming, too, leant itself to a slightly
documentary-style feel, which isn’t horrible but something that detracts
a little.
But even with these flaws, the story is quaint enough and infused with
childlike wonder that most viewers probably won’t mind. Be forewarned,
though, as mentioned earlier, it is a sloooow film but shot with
art-like dedication when looking at it overall.
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Image from Mongolian
Ping-Pong
DVD cost: $23.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
MONGOLIAN PING PONG
is Ning Hao’s third feature film. His previous film, INCENSE,
received international acclaim at festivals worldwide, such as Locarno,
San Sebastian, Vancouver and Tokyo’s Filmex 2003, where it was awarded
Best Film.
Movie Quote: "As
we all know, ping-pong is our national sport..."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Mongolian Ping-Pong
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