Critics reviews

As amusing as these interludes are, they read as attempts to force an exaggerated sense of mystery into an ultimately simple and moralistic tale about the futility of vengeance.

Tseden turns the idea into a parable of ‘awakening’ – certainly Buddhist and perhaps also political – making his very gutsy film both a disturbing mystery and a touchstone for an imaginary liberation.

The movie is shot with a box-like frame that suggests a story told in hypervivid postcards, one after another.

It's something of a backhanded compliment to say that the film invites contemplation, but such is nature of Tseden's stripped-down approach, which drains the story of its expected dynamics and resolution (mainly rooted in the western genre) and allows the structure and visual-aural repetition to generate tension and resonance through what goes unseen.

All this is erected on a blood-red scaffold, a mythic-epic canvas that expands the range of Pema Tseden’s cinematographic vision in exhilarating and provocative ways.

It has the anecdotal feel of a short slightly stretched beyond its natural capacity, but it’s an enjoyable, teasing and very sly-humoured watch with a charismatic lead and arresting visuals.