A well made heartwarming film, interspersed with a whimsical undertone and aptly curated scores. I am searching for similar pieces but at the moment would kind of place it like a feel-good outdoorsy The Office in a different cultural setting. I thought the english translation of the title could be renamed a little better as its namesake is a popular Chinese novel; despite the characters making appearance in the film and the train journey west from beijing to chengdu. Glad to see that it has won several awards and accolades. The director of photography a did a good job in capturing south-western china.

Tang (Yang Haoyu) has devoted his life to the search for extraterrestrials, both as the editor of a magazine devoted to space exploration and as an explorer himself, following up on leads that take him to remote spots where people claim to have seen aliens. As his efforts to keep the magazine afloat are failing, he hears of a mass sighting in a small village in the mountains, and he recruits three others to help him investigate. Once there, he finds an eccentric young man who appears to be the conduit of alien communication, if only he can find one specific location....

This is billed as a "mockumentary" and serves to send up one of the foundations of Chinese literature, which involves a man traveling to the West to locate and bring home Buddhist teachings; here, the tale seems at first a more pitiable and hollow version of the story, but as it develops it becomes something much more, ending as a meditation on the Universe itself. Be warned, however: as a "mockumentary," the filmmakers chose to use hand-held cameras for filming much of the movie, so if you are subject to motion sickness, this movie might not be for you. While I was at first put off by this, by the end of the film I felt very touched indeed, and I'm very glad I saw it.

Director Kong Dashan says he is obsessed with self-expression. It is difficult for me to det aside time to watch a movie.

I have to say that I'm really looking forward to it.

I was struck by several scenes in the film.

During this movie, I sometimes felt sad, sometimes felt funny, and sometimes felt heavy. When the stone lion was filled with sparrows, I felt very, very shocked. I shuddered and every nerve in my spinal cord trembled when I saw the donkey on the river bank in the deep southwest. Tang Zhijun's neurotic perseverance impressed me so much. I was also impressed by the character Sun Yitong. The ending of the film sublimates the theme and makes people move.

I like it very much!

I'm looking forward to Kong Dashan's future work!