Event Info
Soul On a String: Director: Zhang Yang
If it can be said there was a Tao to the ways of legendary cowboy Steve McQueen,...
9:00pm
$10.50
Event Description
If it can be said there was a Tao to the ways of legendary cowboy Steve McQueen, then there must be a Buddha in the ways of legendary cowboy director John Ford. If so, Soul on a String might be the Buddhist parable he would make.
Two brothers are sworn to vengeance against a killer named Tabei but it seems fate has a greater plan for Tabei. Killed by lightening and then resurrected, Tabei has been directed to return the rare Dzi bead to Palm Print Mountain. With no map but his own self to guide him, he acquires allies in the form of a lonely woman and a mute boy as well as competitors in the form of greedy gangsters who also desire the invaluable bead. Most mysterious of all is the one man who is constantly chasing but never meeting Tabei.
Despite being adapted from a pair of novels by Tibetan writer Tashi Dawa, this is a film with many of the classic markings of the American western. The tropes and archetypes abound and are almost impossible to mistake. However, most visually impressive of all is Zhang Yang's epic use of the Tibetan landscape in his storytelling. Like many directors before him he knows how to tell a tale of men trying to come to terms with destiny.
Venue
3130 Tillicum Road
Open / Operational