MovieChat Forums > Dao ma zei (1988) Discussion > Where did he get the story?

Where did he get the story?

posted 18 years ago by wildsparrow
2 replies | jump to latest

After doing some reading, I found out that Tian Zhuangzhuang originally meant the movie to be set in modern-day China, but the Chinese authorities added the introduction to make it seem that it all took place in the 1920s. Unfortunately this is the information that has persisted in all the reviews I've read in the West and elsewhere.

So his idea was to criticize the Communist influence on such minority cultures as the Tibetans (and also the Mongolians, the subject of another of his films). Of course he was quite young and not Tibetan. He didn't understand Tibetan culture very well, but he did the best job he could. He was censured when he returned to Beijing and only 10 copies of the film were allowed out in China. My VHS copy is dated 1991 (bought in the U.S.), so even though it was made in 1986, it took that long to get to me, anyway.

My curiosity is about where he got the idea for the story. Who wrote the script? Did he write it? Was it based on some kind of folk tale from China? Or what?

If anybody knows, please post an answer. Thanks!

Stirling

[–] artihcus022 15 years ago

Not exactly. Tian meant the film to be timeless or set in an uncertain time period it can be medieval Tibet or early 20th Century Tibet or as he says, the 21st Century. The story is about a man dealing with the harsh nature, the sounds and sights of the landscapes.

The film was shot on location in Tibet and the cast were non-professional Tibetans as well. It was this fact which made the Chinese jumpy about the film and so they included that kitschy title card at the start of the film.

It's available on DVD by the way, over here
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0015MS9FA/dvdbeaver-20/ref=nos im

"Ça va by me, madame...Ça va by me!" - The Red Shoes

[–] TemporaryOne-1 13 years ago

It's based on a story by acclaimed writer Zhang Chengzhi, a Hui Muslim nationalist (I mention that, because in the film, Norbu is depicted as more honourable than the Hui Muslims he robs), and Tian Zhuangzhuang worked with Chengzhi in adapting the story to screen.

But I can't find the specific story. It may have been written as a script treatment (similar to a short story), and then Zhuangzhuang worked with Chengzhi to hammer it into a screenplay.