Blind Mountain
Blind Mountain
A poignant drama about human trafficking based on the true stories of hundred of thousands of kidnapped ‘brides’ sold off as sex slaves and child bearers in contemporary China. Twenty-two-year old university graduate Bai Xuemei meets a warm and helpful young woman Hu Xiaoxiao when she is looking for work. Tempted by the prospects of a job and money, Bai decides to go with Hu and her boss to buy medicinal herbs in the mountains. After a long and arduous journey, they arrive at a small village in the mountains. Bai Xuemei wakes up to find herself lying in a farmers' house, not knowing where she is and having lost all her identity papers. There is no sign of Hu or her boss. Bai is told that she has been sold as a wife to 40-year-old bachelor Huang Degui; She finally realizes that she has been tricked by human traffickers. She begs Huang Degui and his family to let her go, but they refuse. The Huang family throws a big wedding banquet in the village and Huang Degui wants to consummate his "marriage." Bai tries to resist but ends up becoming a rape victim. She is beaten and abused at any sign of resistance. Bai Xuemei begins to lead the life of a sex slave. Still strong-willed, she looks for every opportunity to escape but nobody in the village is willing to help an outsider like her. Instead, they help Huang keep an eye on her and she is caught at every attempt to escape – and beaten savagely in public. Even when Bai goes to desperate measures to escape and enlist the help of a lover, she is brought back and beaten again. The villagers’ apathy and selfishness, together with the indifference of the local officials and police, make her a total prisoner – together with other ‘wives’ living like her. Bai Xuemei ends up bearing a son for Huang Degui. The Huang family begins to relax their watch over her and she finally manages to get in contact with her family with the help of a small boy. But when help finally arrives, it is only the beginning of another tragedy…
“The heat of empathetic outrage that Li generates from the audience is enough to make the theater combust.” (Jan Stuart, Newsday)
“A reminder that art sometimes keeps the truth alive far better than the news.” (Manohla Dargis, New York Times)
“Even though Chinese authorities forced the director to make many cuts before it could be shown in Cannes, the movie retains enormous political impact as well as being a moving drama.” (Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter)
“The heat of empathetic outrage that Li generates from the audience is enough to make the theater combust.” (Jan Stuart, Newsday)
“A reminder that art sometimes keeps the truth alive far better than the news.” (Manohla Dargis, New York Times)
“Even though Chinese authorities forced the director to make many cuts before it could be shown in Cannes, the movie retains enormous political impact as well as being a moving drama.” (Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter)
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