Desert Dream
In Lu Zhang's 2007 film Desert Dream, the horizon divides almost every scene. A strange, strictly composed portrait of the life of a preservationist named Hungai (Osor Bat-Ulzii), who lives in a yurt on the rapidly deteriorating Mongolian steppes, it is a film without a single close-up; its characters often take the form of avatars poised on an epic, forbidding brink between sand and sky. The camera's steadfast grip on that horizon is also a constant invocation of what lies beyond it for Zhang';s lost, lonesome characters. After his wife and daughter leave to pursue medical care for the young girl’s hearing loss, Hungai is left alone to do his futile tree-planting only briefly before two North Korean refugees—a mother and her son—come shuffling through. Somehow bonding more deeply with strangers and without the benefit of a common language than he could with his own family, the three quickly form a tentative domestic unit that is challenged as soon as it is struck. The endless tableaux of mundane activity, petty disappointment, and failed interaction bear cumulative fruit; Zhang holds his series of quotidian moments long enough for small pockets of fear and longing to be emptied slowly, the contents arrayed like precious gems.
Now Showing
Find capsule reviews, showtimes & tickets for all films in town.
Join My Voice Nation for free stuff, film info & more!
Now Trending
Movie Trailers
-
SPONSORED
-
SPONSORED
-
SPONSORED
-
Voice Places
Find everything you're looking for in your city
-
Happy Hour App
Find the best happy hour deals in your city
-
Daily Deals
Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%
-
Best Of...
Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city
- Profile
- Newsletters
- Mobile
- Logout
-
Publishing:
ONOFF
