Mr.Tree

Set against the backdrop of a snowswept coal mining town in northern China’s Jilin Province, young director Han Jie’s (韩杰) second movie takes aim at people’s struggle to adapt to modern life. When a lovestruck fool starts hallucinating, he develops special powers that change the world around him.

The movie has already garnered awards at the Shanghai International Film Festival for its willingness to push boundaries and the beauty of its composition, which comes courtesy of international cinema darling Jia Zhangke’s (贾樟柯) own production house.

Shu (树, tree), the eponymous protagonist, appears to be nothing more than the local village idiot, stumbling between bouts of timewasting and drunkenness with his crew of down-and-out friends, cab drivers and small-time mining bosses. He even seems unconcerned after a welding accident forces him to give up his job as a mechanic in a local factory, and continues to mooch around without any apparent purpose. Yet a chance encounter with deaf-mute beauty Zhang Xiaomei leaves him lovestruck. His mind begins to hallucinate and regurgitate horrific images from his past.

Flashbacks of Shu’s brother left hanging dead from a tree become an alternative reality; a frightful escape from the wandering and the intangible goals set by modern life. Shu’s affection for Xiaomei clues his mind into the possibility that he can do something different. He quickly decides he will marry her and moves to the bright lights of Changchun city to make his proposal.

Shu begins by finding work in a school opened by old friend, Chen Yixin, and his wife. However, their domestic bliss is shattered when Chen’s wife discovers her husband’s affairs and kicks the pair of them out into the street:

“I slave to keep this home together, I’m working myself to death to keep this school afloat and you reward me by having all these affairs on the side! You’re just the same as your father! Bastard!”W6 m1ng l@ m1ng w3i de c`och! zh-ge ji`, w6 l-i s@ l-i hu5 de d2l@ zh-ge xu9xi3o. N@ z3i w3ibian g0i w6 g4u s`n d` s# de, n@, n@ g8n n@ di8 y! g- d9xing. W1ngb`d3n!

我忙里忙外地操持这个家，我累死累活地打理这个学校。

你在外边给我的，你，你跟你爹一个德行。王八蛋！

Shu remains fixated on Xiaomei and hits upon the perfect method to communicate despite her disability―sending her romantic SMS messages:

“Do you know? Since the first time I saw you / The best thing in this world is to look into your eyes / I wouldn’t trade that for being a village head!”

N@ zh~dao ma? D`ng w6men xi`ng sh# de y~k-, ji&sh# zh- sh#ji- zu#m0i de sh&nji`n, ji&su3n g0i w6 ge c$nzh2ng w6 y0 b& d`ng!

你知道吗？当我们相视的一刻，

就是这世界最美的瞬间，就算给我个村长我也不当！

Shu even dabbles with writing romantic poetry, adding greater depth to his character while at the same time suggesting he is not as stupid as he sometimes appears:

“I pine for you like cigarettes, remember you like wine / You’re just like cigarettes and wine / A cigarette that’s always in my hand / Wine that never leaves my mouth.”Xi`ngs~ sh# y`n, xi`ng y# sh# ji&, n@ ji& xi3ng n3 y`nji^, g2o de w6 y`n b& l! sh6u, ji^ b&l! k6u.

相思是烟，相忆是酒，你就像那烟酒，搞的我烟不离手，酒不离口。

But the girl doesn’t fall for Shu’s romantic approach, and chooses instead to focus on the practicalities:

“Quit smoking and drinking, then we can be friends.”

Ji- y`n ji- ji^, z3i zu7 p9ngyou.

戒烟戒酒，再做朋友。

Even when the couple communicate in person through short messages written on paper, the girl remains resolute and determined in the face of Shu’s imploring marriage proposals:

Shu: Talk to your parents and then let’s marry. G8n n@ di8 m` shu4, z1n ji9h$n ba.

跟你爹妈说，咱结婚吧。

Xiaomei: My marriage is my business and has nothing to do with my parents!

Ji9h$n sh# w6 de sh#, w-i sh1 y3o xi`n g8n w6 b3 m` t1n!

结婚是我的事，为啥要先跟我爸妈谈！

Shu: Find out if they have any conditions. N@ k3n t`men y6u sh9nme ti1oji3n ma.

你看他们有什么条件嘛。

Xiaomei: Letting others decide your destiny for you, isn’t that sad?

R3ng bi9ren ju9d#ng n@ de m#ngy&n, n3 b& k0b8i ma?

让别人决定你的命运，那不可悲吗？

Shu: Let me take care of your destiny! Ji& b2 n@ de m#ngy&n ji`o g0i w6 ba!

就把你的命运交给我吧！

Xiaomei: You fool! Sh2 y3ngr!

傻样儿！

The new couple move back to their hometown to arrange the wedding. As they embark on the road to a new life, Beijing rock band Second Hand Rose’s(二手玫瑰 -rsh6u m9igui) generational anthem “The Train Is Leaving Soon” (《火车快开》Hu6ch8 Ku3i K`i) plays over the car stereo as they join hands.

“Our lives are departing. Where are they going? They are going forward to happiness. Our love is departing. Where is it going? It’s going forward to eternity.”W6men de sh8nghu5 ji& y3o k`i, w2ng n2r k`i? W2ng x#ngf% l@ k`i. W6men de 3iq!ng ji& y3o k`i, w2ng n2r k`i? W2ng y6ngh9ng l@ k`i.

我们的生活就要开，往哪儿开？往幸福里开。我们的爱情就要开，往哪儿开？往永恒里开。

On the eve of the wedding, Shu’s dead older brother, an ecstatic hippy, appears in a vision that renders Shu incapable of discerning dream from reality. While he just about manages to consumate his marriage, Shu never fully recovers his senses and is largely disregarded as a babbling madman. However, that all changes when he is struck by a premonition that eventually turns out to be true.

This apparent ability to predict the future entices even the local mining bosses to turn to Shu for advice on their business. Shu indulges them with a little cheek.

Shu: Take a look at the old mine there. It has polluted so much of our land. Plough money into scientific research, the coal residues can be used to manufacture an atom bomb. Our country has Four Great Inventions to its name, let’s add a fifth at a stroke!

N@ k3n n3bi`n f-iq# de m9ig`nsh!, t3i w$r2n z1nmen d#qi% le, y~ngg`i ch4uch$ b&f-n z~j~n g2o g2o k8y1n, z1nmen ji& y7ng zh-xi8 m9ig`nsh! z3o ch$ yu1nz@d3n. Z1nmen gu5ji` b%sh# y6u S# D3 F`m!ng ma, y!xi3zi ji& bi3n ch9ng w^ d3 f`m!ng le.

你看那边废弃的煤矸石，太污染咱们地球了， 应该抽出部分资金搞搞科研，咱们就用这些煤矸石造出原子弹。咱们国家不是有四大发明吗，一下子就变成五大发明了。

Director Jia: What a wonderful suggestion! I will certainly give it some serious thought when we return. N@ zh-ge ji3ny# f8ich1ng h2o a, hu!q& w6men y!d#ng h2oh`or y1nji$ y1nji$.

你这个建议非常好啊，回去我们一定好好儿研究研究。

Shu: As I see it there are abundant resources on the moon―we must make going there a priority and thereby surpass our capitalist rivals.

J& w6 gu`nch1, yu-qi% sh3ng y6u z1nmen y7ng b& w1n de z~yu1n, z1nmen y3o qi2ngxi`n d8ngl& yu-qi%, y!d#ng ch`ogu7 n3xi8 z~b0nzh^y# gu5ji`.

据我观察，月球上有咱们用不完的资源，咱们要抢先登陆月球，一定超过那些资本主义国家。

Director Jia: We have a long way to go, I hope we can join hands and work together. R-n zh7ng 9r d3o yu2n ne, x~w3ng w6men xi9 sh6u n^l#.

任重而道远哪，希望我们携手努力。

At the movie’s finale, Xiaomei is reunited with Shu and tells him that she is pregnant. Moved, Shu can only say:

“Let’s move into the new flat, we can have the baby there.”

Z1n b`n d3o x~n f1ngzi l@ ba, b2 h1izi y0 sh8ng d3o x~n f1ngzi l@.

咱搬到新房子里吧，把孩子也生到新房子里。

Suddenly, Xiaomei talks for the first time in the movie:

"Let’s go! We’re off!" Z6u ba, z1n z6u.

走吧，咱走。

She can finally speak, but is it real or just another vision? Does it really matter? Shu appears happy as he walks through a field toward the new city, ready to embrace his future.