The Horse Thief

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The Horse Thief
Directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang
Produced by Wu Tianming
Written by Zhang Rui
Music by Qu Xiaosong
Cinematography Hou Yong
Zhao Fei
Release date(s) 1986
Running time 88 min.
Language Mandarin
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese: 盗马贼
Traditional Chinese: 盜馬賊
Pinyin: Dào mǎ zéi

The Horse Thief is a 1986 Chinese film by acclaimed director, Tian Zhuangzhuang. It follows one of Tian's favorite topics, Chinese minorities, a topic he touched upon in 1984's On the Hunting Ground and would return to in 2004's documentary, Delamu. Like these other films, The Horse Thief shows Tian's fascination with China's ethnic minorities, and in particular the Buddhist ceremonies that these peoples practice.

Film director Martin Scorsese listed the film as his top favorite from the 1990s on the television show Roger Ebert & the Movies[1] (the film was not widely released in the United States until the 1990s). The Horse Thief was produced by the Xi'an Film Studio.

The film follows the titular horse thief, Norbu as he struggles to support his family in Tibet. After his son dies, however, Norbu strives to change his ways. Mirroring the starkness of the landscape, the film is nearly free of dialogue, with only the occasional terse exchange between characters.

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