Bachelor Mountain
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Country/Region:
China Mainland
Release Year: 2011
Release Year: 2011
Publish Date: 15 October 2021 00:00:00 UTC
Story:
In the forest of Heilongjiang Province, the top north of China, timber supplies have dwindled after a century of logging and most of the local men have lost their livelihoods. Meanwhile, the allure of better jobs in nearby cities has led to an outflow of local women, resulting in a “Bachelor Mountain” populated by legions of lonely, impoverished, single men. Living in a world of extreme loneliness, San Liangzi, a forty-six years old unemployed logger who lost the job and wife twelve years ago, has been used to talk to himself. He has been secretly enamored of Meizi ,the only single woman in the village for over ten years and doing unpaid chores for her has brought him the most pleasure in his life. He enjoys the illusion of love, but his girl will never accept his love because she doesn't like men......
In the forest of Heilongjiang Province, the top north of China, timber supplies have dwindled after a century of logging and most of the local men have lost their livelihoods. Meanwhile, the allure of better jobs in nearby cities has led to an outflow of local women, resulting in a “Bachelor Mountain” populated by legions of lonely, impoverished, single men. Living in a world of extreme loneliness, San Liangzi, a forty-six years old unemployed logger who lost the job and wife twelve years ago, has been used to talk to himself. He has been secretly enamored of Meizi ,the only single woman in the village for over ten years and doing unpaid chores for her has brought him the most pleasure in his life. He enjoys the illusion of love, but his girl will never accept his love because she doesn't like men......
Casts & Crews:
Yu Guangyi
Directors
Runtime:
104
minutes
Language:
Subtitles:
Chinese, English
Festivals & Awards:
2011 Shanghai Television Festival - Magnolia Award, China 2011 Dubai International Film Festival , United Arab Emirate 2011 Hong Kong International Film Festival , Hong Kong 2011 Tokyo FILMeX , Japan 2012 Sydney International Film Festival , Australia
2011 Shanghai Television Festival - Magnolia Award, China 2011 Dubai International Film Festival , United Arab Emirate 2011 Hong Kong International Film Festival , Hong Kong 2011 Tokyo FILMeX , Japan 2012 Sydney International Film Festival , Australia
Tags:
Northeast China, Forest, Bachelor
Director‘s Statement:
In Chinese culture, family life has always been paramount, but for the lonely lumberjacks of Heilongjiang’s Changbai mountain range, marriage and children are a distant, even unattainable, dream. After a century of logging, timber supplies in the Changbai national forest have dwindled and most of the local men have lost their livelihoods. Meanwhile, the allure of better jobs in nearby cities has led to an outflow of local women, resulting in a “bachelor mountain” populated by legions of lonely, impoverished, single men. In desperation, some of the men resort to “buying” brides from North Korea for the sum of 7000 RMB (slightly more than US$1000), but most of these brief unions end in tragedy when the women – most reportedly bound for South Korea – run off, abandoning their Chinese husbands and young children. Then there are women from other areas who enter into sham marriages with local men, swindling them out of both love and money.
San Liangzi, an unemployed logger and jack-of-all trades who has been divorced for twelve years, is more fortunate than the other bachelors on the mountain because he, at least, has somebody to love. For over ten years, he has been secretly enamored of a young woman named Meizi, and has chosen to express his affection for her by doing unpaid chores and construction work at her family’s inn. For the most part, he endures this unrequited love without complaint or regret. Although he knows that his one-sided love may never bear fruit, Meizi has already become an important and irreplaceable part of his life.
I spent two years filming Bachelor Mountain, one of three films that I have completed since returning to my hometown in 2004. I hope that through this film, and the whole “Hometown Trilogy,” future generations can learn what life was like for their predecessors and countrymen—how they struggled for survival, and searched for love…
San Liangzi, an unemployed logger and jack-of-all trades who has been divorced for twelve years, is more fortunate than the other bachelors on the mountain because he, at least, has somebody to love. For over ten years, he has been secretly enamored of a young woman named Meizi, and has chosen to express his affection for her by doing unpaid chores and construction work at her family’s inn. For the most part, he endures this unrequited love without complaint or regret. Although he knows that his one-sided love may never bear fruit, Meizi has already become an important and irreplaceable part of his life.
I spent two years filming Bachelor Mountain, one of three films that I have completed since returning to my hometown in 2004. I hope that through this film, and the whole “Hometown Trilogy,” future generations can learn what life was like for their predecessors and countrymen—how they struggled for survival, and searched for love…
Casts & Crews
Yu Guangyi
Director
