Courthouse on the Horseback

Running time: 105 mins

North American Premiere

Winner of the prestigious Horizons Award at the Venice Film Festival, and based on a true story, Liu Jie directs the story of an old circuit court judge, whose dispensation of justice for the various squabbles and transgressions he finds are reminiscent of Mark Twain in both their fairness and humor.

His lifelong assistant is being forced into retirement, and Judge Feng (Li Baotian from Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern) is accompanied on his latest trip by her young replacement. Each of the three villages they visit is peopled by members of different Chinese ethnic minorities, and each is dealing with the conflict between tradition and modernity. Throughout the film, the poignancy of time's passage is filtered through a gentle patina of humor and understanding.

Jie?s first film is a truly independent effort? he used his wedding money to complete it. He says: ?I discarded all filmmaking techniques and filmed this movie using the most simple and unadulterated means possible... I approached filming using the simplest and most pristine means.? What he has achieved is something quite simple, honest, and wonderful.


Charlie Cockey

GLOBAL LANDSCAPES