The Horse Thief (1986) (WCL Exclusive #19) (Scanavo case) [China]

[Tristan_Wang]

MP GROUP BUY HERE

 

Release date: 15th February, 2019

Price: 328 CNY

final artwork director approved artwork. 

newly restored edition and tibetan audio is first time on disc

Audio 1: Tibetan PCM 1.0 (original language)   
Audio 2: Mandarin PCM 1.0
SUB1: S-CHI （for Tibetan track）
SUB2: ENG （for Tibetan track）newly translated according to tibetan language
SUB3: S-CHI （for mandarin track）
SUB4: ENG （for mandarin track）newly translated by Tony Rayns

special feature：

- UK Television introduction to Daoma Zei by Tony Rayns (1988)  2 subs s-chi and eng, eng audio mixes mandarin audio
- The Movie for the Next Century   (interview with Tony Rayns)  only 1 sub s-chi and eng audio

[LeaveMeGlazzies]

Amazing news! Very special and unique movie. This will be my first group buy here. Hope the pre-order link is up soon.

[ksosk]

THE GROUPBUY IS LIVE!

 

@LeaveMeGlazzies

[Sprocket]

So which language should this movie be watched in?

[Tristan_Wang]

7 hours ago, Sprocket said:

So which language should this movie be watched in?

in 1986, tibetan and mandarin were dubbing,  and actors are tibetan. All films are forced to make a mandarin dubbing.

Director Tian Zhuangzhuang approved only tibetan track. this track is found in this year (2018)

[DarthEd]

I knew the name of this movie was familiar, and I finally figured it out!

 

Circa 2000, Martin Scorsese picked it as his #1 movie of the 1990s in a special “Best of the Decade” episode with Roger Ebert. That’s a good enough recommendation for me! 

[ksosk]

10 minutes ago, DarthEd said:

I knew the name of this movie was familiar, and I finally figured it out!

 

Circa 2000, Martin Scorsese picked it as his #1 movie of the 1990s in a special “Best of the Decade” episode with Roger Ebert. That’s a good enough recommendation for me! 

Cool!

I didn't know that 😃

Great info @DarthEd

[DarthEd]

I couldn’t find the complete video on YouTube, sadly, but here’s a transcript:

 

https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/ebert-and-scorsese-best-films-of-the-1990s

[ksosk]

 

 

Excerpt from the interview:

 

 

MARTIN: Now I'm cheating a bit with my choice for the Number 1 film in the '90s, because it was actually made in '86. But it didn't really become widely known in the United States until the early '90s, which is when I saw it for the first time. It's called "Horse Thief," and it was made in Tibet by the mainland Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang. The story of the film is as simple and elemental as the lives of the people it depicts: a man is ostracized from his tribe for stealing horses, his living conditions become so severe that his son dies, he repents and is accepted back into the fold, and he's forced to steal horses again to keep his second child alive.

 

MARTIN: Now, I have a great interest in anthropology, and Tian takes you inside a culture that, initially, felt as distant to me as the surface of the moon. And because he stays so simple and so specific, the point of view becomes universal. This is what life is all about: struggling to keep your family alive. "Horse Thief" was a real inspiration to me. It's that rare thing: a genuinely transcendental film.

 

ROGER: This movie is like an Italian neo-realist film. It made me think of "The Bicycle Thief," although it's more despairing even than "The Bicycle Thief." It's about people who are hungry and who are cold. He's walking around in the snow barefoot at one time. And his choice is be a horse thief or be dead you know, be a horse thief or my child starves and he's already lost one child.

 

MARTIN: Right.

 

ROGER: And he's up against the absolute extremities of economic desperation.

 

MARTIN: Yeah. The director made "The Blue Kite," back in '93, right afterwards, which is a similar way into that society a very interesting way, where he shows you the microcosm and you get the whole macrocosm from it. Unfortunately since then he hasn't been making pictures in mainland China.

 

ROGER: Maybe because he was too perceptive in these two films.

 

MARTIN: Yeah.

 

ROGER: That's the problem in China. We get great films out of China, then their directors suddenly have to retire.

 

MARTIN: Can't work. Yeah, exactly.

 

ROGER: But we have so many of these second hand pop images of China which are totally irrelevant. When you look at a film like this you realize these are people leading their daily lives. This is the information we don't have when we look at the news --

 

MARTIN: Exactly.

 

 

 

 

[Tristan_Wang]

2 hours ago, ksosk said:

 

 

Excerpt from the interview:

 

 

MARTIN: Now I'm cheating a bit with my choice for the Number 1 film in the '90s, because it was actually made in '86. But it didn't really become widely known in the United States until the early '90s, which is when I saw it for the first time. It's called "Horse Thief," and it was made in Tibet by the mainland Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang. The story of the film is as simple and elemental as the lives of the people it depicts: a man is ostracized from his tribe for stealing horses, his living conditions become so severe that his son dies, he repents and is accepted back into the fold, and he's forced to steal horses again to keep his second child alive.

 

MARTIN: Now, I have a great interest in anthropology, and Tian takes you inside a culture that, initially, felt as distant to me as the surface of the moon. And because he stays so simple and so specific, the point of view becomes universal. This is what life is all about: struggling to keep your family alive. "Horse Thief" was a real inspiration to me. It's that rare thing: a genuinely transcendental film.

 

ROGER: This movie is like an Italian neo-realist film. It made me think of "The Bicycle Thief," although it's more despairing even than "The Bicycle Thief." It's about people who are hungry and who are cold. He's walking around in the snow barefoot at one time. And his choice is be a horse thief or be dead you know, be a horse thief or my child starves and he's already lost one child.

 

MARTIN: Right.

 

ROGER: And he's up against the absolute extremities of economic desperation.

 

MARTIN: Yeah. The director made "The Blue Kite," back in '93, right afterwards, which is a similar way into that society a very interesting way, where he shows you the microcosm and you get the whole macrocosm from it. Unfortunately since then he hasn't been making pictures in mainland China.

 

ROGER: Maybe because he was too perceptive in these two films.

 

MARTIN: Yeah.

 

ROGER: That's the problem in China. We get great films out of China, then their directors suddenly have to retire.

 

MARTIN: Can't work. Yeah, exactly.

 

ROGER: But we have so many of these second hand pop images of China which are totally irrelevant. When you look at a film like this you realize these are people leading their daily lives. This is the information we don't have when we look at the news --

 

MARTIN: Exactly.

 

 

 

 

glad to read this, i heard the horse thief is one of scorsese's favorite before, but never read this interview

[LeaveMeGlazzies]

Yeah, the reason I know about The Horse Thief is because of that Scorsese-Ebert clip that I watched on Youtube, which has unfortunately been taken down since. I was kind of hoping that the short segment where Scorsese picks it as his best would be added as an extra on this blu ray, but there are probably some rights issues preventing that.

 

There are two Scorsese-recommended world cinema films that blew me away with striking images: The Horse Thief and a film from Mali called Yeelen. I am thrilled that The Horse Thief is getting released on blu ray, and hopefully Yeelen will get a release in the future as well.

[McCrutchy]

I see the Group Buy thread is closed. Does that mean I cannot join it at this point? I would like to purchase a copy.

[ksosk]

12 minutes ago, McCrutchy said:

I see the Group Buy thread is closed. Does that mean I cannot join it at this point? I would like to purchase a copy.

I have reopened the GB to take orders under reserve.

For those who are keen to please kindly submit your request asap so I can try to secure more copies, if possible! 

 

Cheers,

KS

[DarthEd]

 

On 12/15/2018 at 4:03 AM, ksosk said:

MARTIN: Yeah. The director made "The Blue Kite," back in '93, right afterwards, which is a similar way into that society a very interesting way, where he shows you the microcosm and you get the whole macrocosm from it. Unfortunately since then he hasn't been making pictures in mainland China.

 

 

 

That reminds me: The Blue Kite would make an excellent choice for a future WCL/MLIFE release....

[ksosk]

Very soon now!

MP has just a few copies left for anyone who still wants 😃

 

I will be closing the GB shortly and the invoice will be issued in the next few days.

 

[LeaveMeGlazzies]

I'm sorry to ask this here, but was the invoice for this sent? This is my first group buy on this site, so I'm not sure how this works. Does the invoice have to be paid somewhere on this site, or will it be sent directly to my PayPal address?

[Terje Iversen]

On 12/11/2018 at 8:39 AM, LeaveMeGlazzies said:

Amazing news! Very special and unique movie. This will be my first group buy here. Hope the pre-order link is up soon.

My first groupbuy, also. I'm very thrilled to be a part of this community, and I'm looking forward to other amazing GBs in the future. I have also registered for HDZeta's version of Aquaman and A Star is Born.

Edited February 25, 2019 by Terje Iversen

[Masterblaster]

On 2/23/2019 at 10:52 AM, LeaveMeGlazzies said:

I'm sorry to ask this here, but was the invoice for this sent? This is my first group buy on this site, so I'm not sure how this works. Does the invoice have to be paid somewhere on this site, or will it be sent directly to my PayPal address?

it will be sent directly to your paypal . 

 

Hope you have a nice time here.

 

Take care

John

 

[ksosk]

Very soon now!!

 

 

[Terje Iversen]

My first groupbuy. Yay!! 

[huseyin]

I think this is one of the biggest releases of the year

[edmoney]

I guess the group buy for this has ended.  🙁

 

I just signed up to Media Psychos specifically for this.

[Scary Hair]

51 minutes ago, edmoney said:

I guess the group buy for this has ended.  🙁

 

I just signed up to Media Psychos specifically for this.

 

@ksosk

 

So you are aware  IF by some miracle  ❤❤. 

[cf408510]

Also found out about this yesterday after the DVDbeaver review.  Bummed I missed it, but glad it pointed me in the direction of this community.  Hopefully Diskino continues to distribute blu-ray editions of these previously unavailable Chinese classics.

[Menteith]

Also my first group buy here: Will we get some kind of notification when the package is sent out? Will it be sent out with a tracking number? Also, when will we get the 9 EUR deposit back? Thanks!