#751. The Horse Thief (1986, Peicheng Pani)

Have I Seen It Before?: No


Thoughts Before Viewing: I'm feeling pretty indifferent about this one.  My gut feeling is that I'll appreciate it but won't get much out of it personally. The premise sounds similar to Bicycle Thieves (1948).   My primary basis for hearing about this is because Martin Scorsese listed this as his favorite film of the 1990s on Roger Ebert & The Movies (although it was released in 1986, it wasn't released in the US until 1990).

Running Time: 88 minutes
Directed By: Zhuanzhuang Tian
Written By: Rui Zhang
Primary Cast: Daiba, Jiji Dan, Drashi



Summary: Norbu, a horse thief, is thrown out of his tribe in order to purge it of evil.



My Thoughts: Goodness I found this to be an absolute bore.  I really didn't have a good experience with it.  I was just waiting for it to be over.  Thankfully it's as short as it is.  I unfortunately couldn't find a copy of this anywhere so I had no choice but to stream it.  Maybe the poor quality made this a doomed viewing from the start from me, seeing that it's primarily a visual film.  The premise sounds interesting on paper but I think the presentation is horribly dull.



Does It Belong In The Book?: Honestly, outside of the culture, I see no reason why it should be included.  What is so original about it?  Bicycle Thieves (1948) did this sort of thing much better.  I'm actually convinced it was only included because of Martin Scorsese's admiration of it.  There is no way this should be included if they're going to omit films like The Big Lebowski (1998) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).



Rating: 3/10