Kekexili is a great movie you haven’t seen but you should. It’s the true story of the Tibetan antelope, which once numbered in the millions but was poached and hunted down to 10,000 animals in the mid 1990s. Some local Tibetan tribesman were so incensed at the slaughter they took it upon themselves to form a “Mountain Patrol” and protect the antelopes. As the poachers had guns, so too, did they. Led by a retired Chinese military officer, the Mountain Patrol fought a number of fierce battles against the poachers up in the Tibetan countryside. We’re talking AK-47’s battling from Land Rovers over the mountains and valleys of the Tibetan desert. Following the murder of one of the patrol, a journalist went out to cover their story. What he saw (and I won’t spoil this for you) shocked him so he came back to his paper and basically threw the normal communist-inspired self caution to the wind and wrote about everything. BOOM! A national uproar about the conditions of the antelope and the government’s indifference made a huge impact not only in China but in those Western countries importing the pelts. It is his writings that have been turned into this movie, which at times appears like a documentary. The film won all sorts of awards in China and premiered in the states at Sundance. If you can get a copy, I’d recommend watching it. I have no doubt that it will come out via some Indie theaters. Basically, if you think you are an environmentalist because you give $5 to Greenpeace, pull your head out of your rear and see what some people have to go through to protect the environment. ]]>
Kekexili movie review