''Delamu'' () is a 2004

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by Fifth Generation Chinese filmmaker Tian Zhuangzhuang. ''Delamu'' documents the people living in the Nujiang River Valley, along the Tea Horse Road, an ancient trade route between China's

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

province and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

. The film was jointly produced by companies in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It had its American premier at the 2004

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. The title "Delamu" refers to the Tibetan word for "peaceful angel", and the name of one of the mules owned by a villager in the film.

Synopsis

Stretching across

, and into the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

, the heart of ''Delamu'' is the "Tea Horse Road" (). One of the oldest caravan routes in Asia, the film documents one such caravan as it transfers raw material to a modern construction site. As Tian travels with the caravan, he interviews people who have lived along the road for decades, including a priest who was thought to have disappeared during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, a 104-year-old woman, and a mule driver who owns the titular Delamu.

Reception

Though quiet and a far cry from either the insulated '' Springtime in a Small Town'' or the epic '' The Blue Kite'', Tian's ''Delamu'' has nevertheless garnered both praise and some criticism. On the one hand it has been well received by critics in Asia. The inaugural Chinese Film Directors Association Awards bestowed its honor for best director to Tian for ''Delamu''. It has similarly been well received in the West. In its premier at Tribeca, ''Delamu's'' cinematography of the stunning landscape was praised by critics. On the other hand, many critics often cannot help but to compare the film to Tian's account of the Cultural Revolution, '' The Blue Kite'', often negatively. One notes the "travelogue sheen" as preventing real penetration into the subject matter. Another (admittedly a socialist critic) complained that ''Delamu'' despite its beauty, was a "National Geographic style travelogue

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

broke no new ground."

Notes

External links

*
Interview
with Tian Zhuangzhuang on ''Delamu'' {{Tian Zhuangzhuang Chinese documentary films 2004 films 2000s Mandarin-language films Films directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang 2004 documentary films