New York State Writers Institute - Classic Film Series

Horse ThiefHorse Thief
(Dao ma zei)

March 9, 2001 (Friday) at 7:30 p.m.
Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue
(Free and Open to the Public)

(Chinese, 1986, 88 minutes, color, 35mm)
(In Mandarin with English subtitles)

Directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang
Starring Dan Jiji and Tseshang Rigzin

A man must resort to thievery in order to support his family. The vast panorama of Tibet serves as a backdrop for this exquisitely photographed film, which presents a careful revelation of the harsh lives of Tibetans and the role that religion plays in their survival.

"The Best Film of the Decade." - Martin Scorsese

"One of the most visually stunning and spiritually resonant film in years. Part fictional narrative, part ethnographic spectacle of enormous power, set in the awe-inspiring landscape of high Tibet." - Gene Youngblood, Santa Fe New Mexican

"**** A Masterpiece. Transcends both its national and regional contexts to convey things about landscape, community, solitude, and death in a poetics of sound and image that is staggeringly beautiful and immediately communicable." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader