Buddha Mountain (2010) User Reviews

Move Thee Reviews: Gritty Description of the Bleak Lower-class City Life

[ken1848 · 8/10 · 6 August 2011]

Buddha Mountain is a gripping drama with a gritty description of the bleak lower-class city life, lifelike characters the audience cares about and convincing performances from the ensemble cast (Sylvia Chang, Fan Bingbing, Bolin Chen and Fei Long). The film talks about the bewilderment of youth, family breakdown, generational conflict, respect for teachers, bereavement, loneliness, the unpredictability of life, etc. The developing city and the mountainous terrain of post-earthquake sizzling Sichuan are rawly shot, which provides a perfect backdrop for this coming-of-age story. The documentary-like style and the insertion of real footage also add to realism.

Good Flick

[rsstanievich · 8/10 · 4 June 2012]

"Buddha Mountain" is a well-acted, well-directed film executed in a "cinema verite" style, that should find a common audience with young people the world over.

It deals with the trials and tribulations of three young friends as they make their way through the modern-day Chinese youth culture. Night-clubs, fights, drinking, and sexual tensions ensure there is never a dull moment...at least until the morning after.

The story takes an unexpected turn when the trio seek to rent rooms from a middle-aged widow who has sorrows of her own. What ensues is a story of pain, acceptance, healing, and ultimately...enlightenment? While this is a portrait of modern-day Chinese life, it is certainly not a new story.

It's a re-telling of "Journey to The West". The Fat Kid is Piggie. The Girl is The Monkey King. The Dude is Sandy. The Widow is The Monk. The white car is like a white horse. In the end, the trio receives enlightenment...but what does that mean for this generation? That's the question the viewer is left to answer for themselves.

This is a fine movie, more layered and hopeful than an average "teen-angst" film. It is worth seeking out.

trigger warning: movie contains a scene which a few viewers may find harmful

[dan-bealecocks · 7/10 · 13 November 2012]

This is a small warning for the few people to which this is important: The film contains a brief but graphic scene of deliberate self harm with suicidal thinking.

This enjoyable film follows three young people, and the mother of a recently deceased child. They meet when the young people need to rent a room, and the mother has rooms to rent.

I was worried that it was going to be nonsense after an early scene where Nan Feng (Fan Bingbing) confronts a gang. That scene feels weirdly out of place with the rest of the movie which has a much more natural feel.

I'm not sure what message I'm supposed to take from the movie, but I never do; I just watch them and enjoy them, and this is a film I enjoyed.

I recommend to see it!

[tomokotomato12 · 18 September 2011]

The story is simple and can feel the love between mother and son or daughter from each others sites. Teenagers are going to think that they are looser because of their back grounds, heart break or frustration etc,but want to believe someone especially their mother. It's a good film to see with your mother, son or daughter... Sylvia Chang, Fan Bingbing, Bolin Chen and Fei Long,, it's good cast, I like Sylvia's act. her face is always show her deep mind (sad). One thing I don't accept the very end scene it's too long for just on the train. I can understand it, they are very sad to lost their friend like mother from that scene but I don't like it anyway... Totally very good movie!!!

Fan Bingbing Rules!

[slammerhard · 7/10 · 25 November 2020]

Despite being a decade too old for the role, Fan Bingbing does an excellent job here. A lot of viewers in China did not buy into the premise that such a good looking girl would spend most of her time hanging out with two losers but if you are willing to overlook this and give this film a chance you will find it may not be perfect, but is embedded with a strange kind of poetry that creates a calming effect inside the viewer.

The inspiration for the trio of protagonists in Buddha Mountain is Wu Cheng'Er's Journey to the West with the girl as the monkey, the good looking boy as the monk, and fatty as the pig. Seasoned viewers of Asian films will realize that Buddha Mountain is a reworking of Fruit Chan's Made in Hong Kong with most of the radical elements removed by the Censorship Bureau of the Beijing Government and being replaced with a more positive message. Maybe Fan Bingbing was too much of a star for this kind of project yet at the same time she is one of the main reasons you want to keep on watching this film. There is an amazing title sequence-this scene alone is worth the price of admission.

Another much discussed scene-too crazy for Chinese audience-where Fan Bingbing breaks a bottle on her head, starts bleeding and kisses a girl on the mouth, may seem stupid to foreign viewers who don't know much about Chinese customs and way of thinking, therefore are unable to explain this sequence in terms of cause and effect. Well, it's all about giving face to others and others giving face to you. These things only make sense if you have lived for a while in China.

There is one more great performance in this film-that of Sylvia Chang as the mother figure who takes the trio of young delinquents under her protection. She doesn't treat them well at first but eventually she warms up. They climb together a mountain and help an old man restore the statue of the Guanyin Bodhisattva. She helps those kids who had been wandering aimlessly to find a purpose but unable to get over the death of her son she commits suicide.

When watching the film you get the feeling how better it would be without the censorship but still there are many good things here for those who are interested in Chinese film. The director does a good job in depicting the gritty reality of Shiquan province. If you like your noodles spicy, give this film a chance.

Good Movie and Actress/

[tonkabean-41219 · 8/10 · 31 July 2022]

I really like the story structure of the film, and the actors' performances, especially Fan Bing Bing and Cheung Ai Ka.

The background music, the directing style, and the language of the camera.

It exceeded my expectations.

By-the-numbers indie film

[sitenoise · 3/10 · 4 August 2011]

I didn't believe any of the actors made contact with the feelings the characters were supposed to be feeling because everything comes off as an impression, rather than being anything of substance. I don't believe the director had a story to tell, as much as simply having a desire to make a film in this style. The hand-held camera-work didn't bother me, but the framing and composition of shots did. They seemed forced and almost precious, and the actors merely vogued their way through scenes. The story is uninspired. Three young drifters meet a single mom who is still mourning the death of her only son, and they all have an angst competition. That ought to be indie grill. But it's not in this case. It's just shots of people pensively staring off into space, and scenes of people pensively walking around aimlessly while the fog rolls by and the music meanders. Indie film school 101. It was very hard to finish this film because I didn't care about any of the characters. Caring about characters may not be necessary, although the director clearly hoped for it, so I'm going to make up a word to describe my experience and to differentiate it from simply not caring. I discared for the characters.

eyes can be exhausted when watch this movie.

[gooiinn · 2/10 · 23 March 2011]

for some reason you can not watch the film having any stable scene. The camera is always moving like it is filmed with bare hands at all times. Even the scene with a woman smoking inside a broken car, shot from back mirror, you cannot see a second still there.

eyes can be exhausted when watch this movie. a extra-normal story in a normal life. a story surrounded with youngsters running into a single mother who lost her only son in a car accident. unbearable of sadness, she kills herself on the birthday of past child. such event assures the changes three young minds. However, as viewer i am deeply moved. i am not aroused to expect anything despite of a boring end.