Postmen in the Mountains

“Postman In The Mountains” is the story told by a young man who lives in a mountain village with his parents. The young man is now taking over the postman route from his father whose bad knee is now becoming a physical barrier to his ability to complete the mail delivery being as it is quite a physically arduous trip. The scenery throughout the movie is breathtaking and even though the story is set in modern times, it takes the viewer to a simpler way of life allowing one to experience the interconnectedness of the people who live in the remote villages of China’s mountains.
As the film opens, the father is helping his son pack the mailbag. The young man is about ready to set off on his own when the older man not only sends along his trusty travel companion, Laoer, the German Shepherd, but the father decides to take one last journey to deliver the mail with his son. It’s not long into the trip when it is revealed that the father and son have a somewhat estranged relationship due to the fact the father was away delivering the mail and only returned home every three months. The younger man, having never been outside his own village, did not understand the distances his father had to travel in order to complete his job. Aside from covering miles together, both characters reminisce about their earlier lives. We learn how the father met his wife in one of the mountain villages he delivered mail to when he was a young man. The young man thinks back to when he was young and alone with his mother.
The son witnesses the excitement his father is greeted with whenever his father arrives in a village with the mail as well as the appreciation the villagers bestow upon him. The elder mailman proudly introduces his son to the villagers and explains he will be taking over the route, yet there is sadness since the father is only in his forties and is being forced to retire due to a recurring knee problem which was caused through the wear and tear of traveling to the villages. In addition to teaching his son how to pack the mailbags, and traverse dangerous paths, the father also shows his son how to address the village cadres. The father demonstrates his job is more than just dropping off letters like when he explains to his son they will vary from the route to visit a blind widow whose only son left for the city and never visits. The father “reads” a letter to the woman as though it was written by her grandson expressing how he misses her. In another village, the son meets another young man about his age who had dropped out of school in the eighth grade at the urging of his family since the school was so far away, but now he has decided to take a vocational correspondence course.
As the pair journey together they not only participate in traditional village celebrations, but they begin to talk more. For the first time, both men share significant time together and finally get to understand and develop a respect for each other in a way they had not experienced prior to the journey. We see the father finally surrender to the inevitable when at icy, cold water he allows his son to carry him across a river on his back.
In addition to a plot revolving around the changing relationship of a parent and now adult child, the film portrays daily life in the villages of China. The changing times and the decisions of the younger generation to leave the villages. The meeting of the modern world and the traditional ways while they may not collide in this movie, do brush up next to each other.
The movie would be appropriate for class and provides a look into traditional life in the mountains. The scenery is breathtaking and one does get the sense of the distances and dangers faced in order to be the mailman in this region. Understanding how to approach village leaders is vital to survival and while the father was a loyal supporter of the revolution and Communist Party, he has no recourse when he is moved out of his job. The film also has cross-cultural appeal in that many young people have one view of their parents when they are young, but as the move into adulthood, that perception of their parent changes and the adult-child becomes the caretaker for the parents.

The movie follows a father, son, and their dog as they traverse the father's typical mail route in a mountainous, rural region of China. The dog is definitely the quiet protagonist of the film. The father has delivered mail on this route for years, but is retiring due to a bad knee and his son is taking over the post. The father decides to accompany his son on his first trip to show introduce him to different people and to "show him the ropes." At the outset, the sun is clearly ill-prepared for being a postman in rural China. He's out of shape and careless, as demonstrated when he leaves the mail bag in the woods after a quick break. Also, he doesn't initially appreciate how much of an impact his father has had on the people on his route. As the story unfolds, the father and son run into countless people who's lives have been touched by the father. Towards the end of the film, the son transforms and begins to focus more on personal interactions with people while delivering mail. The father also reflects on how much time he spent away from his wife and home and how his son worked to fill the void caused by his absence. At the end of the film, the father stays home with the wife and the dog, who was initially hesitant to travel alone with the son, gallops after the young man as he heads out again on his postal route.
This video put great emphasis on how rural China does not operate like its urban counterparts. I might show some clips from the movie to juxtapose the rural lifestyle against someone living in Beijing. Additionally, this film makes it clear that while the rest of the world might be pushing forward with technological innovations, rural China continues to do its own thing. I teach about the Great Leap Forward, so I might use this film to demonstrate how rural communities continue to function after that horrific time period. 
As this movie is quick (only 90 minutes) and simple to follow, I'd recommend other teachers of World History watch it. I certainly don't think it's a classic or one that most students would really enjoy watching (the subtitles were horrendous), but it helps to highlight the vastly different lifestyles of those Chinese people who still live in rural communities. It forces the viewer to slow down and appreciate a perspective on China that isn't all about their quest to industrialize or compete with America for global supremacy. 

"The Postmen of the Mountains" is a film made in 2004 starring Teng Rujun as a father passing his rural mail route to his replacement, his son played by Liu Ye. It is difficult to compare it to an American film in that there are no car chases, no guns, no explosions, no emergencies, and the dog does NOT die. The movie is an expedition of 112 kilometers to deliver the mail to remote areas of China. Over the course of the journey, the two reach a long needed understanding of each other that is moving without being too sentimental. I would show it to my students without reservation. The subtitles may be a challenge to some readers but the acting is so well done and the themes so universal the students will understand the meaning. The movie offers glimpses of traditional life in scenes of a wedding, a woman weaving, and water wheels at a river. The scenery is spectacular, the human encounters along the way are touching. This is a very nice picture show of China.

Postmen in the Mountains is a heart-warming film about a father who is a postman in rural Hunan province and delivers the mail by foot to mountain villages. The film’s story concerns the last mail delivery the father makes as he trains his twenty-four year-old son to take over the route. As they walk the mountain trails winding up and down through majestic scenery, the father and the son, who are rather awkward together at first, look back over their lives. As they walk the route, the son learns how physically demanding it is and also how compassionate his father has been to the people along it. The son realizes that his father, though lowly in social standing, has earned the trust of the villagers because of his strong sense of responsibility. The father realizes how much he has to learn about his son and also, toward the end of the film, how much his son has looked after the mother during the father’s absences delivering the mail. The film, though perhaps a little sentimental, is touching and understated.

This film is about the transition of a new generation in the "passing of the baton." The film takes place in the rural mountains of China where a father has been delivering the mail for over twenty years. Due to his bothersome knees and being forced by the government to retire, he has decided that his son is the perfect candidate to takeover his mail route. The film opens with the the father sorting and packing the mail into his satchel while his son looks on all the while offering reminders about each of the deliveries.
Early the next morning, the son sets out on his first trek, after-all, how hard can it really be? His father's dog always accompanied him on his route but on this day he stays back with the father, even with much cajoling the dog will not leave his side. So, the father embarks on his son's first route with him along with their canine sidekick. They rarely speak unless it involves business or a discussion on how and where to cross the water safely.
A new generation of thinking and problem solving irritates the father when he tires of the son listening to his radio instead of listening and embracing nature along the way. The son doesn't understand why they don't take the bus to their destinations, not realizing how remote and far back they will be in the mountains, where no bus would ever be able to go.
Lessons learned along the way could never have been taught at home. Although the son has felt orphaned by his father all his life because he was away for so long and never spent time with him, the time they are spending together now, is the longest they have ever been together. The son soon realizes the importance of his father's work. Not only does he deliver the mail, but he takes time to talk, listens to the people, makes them feel important and is their connection to the outside world. They are warmly welcomed and become part of each village they visit joining in on wedding celebrations, festivities and family meals.
One example is when his father turns on a different path and the son reminds him that their dog is leading them straight ahead. But, there was a special letter to be delivered that day. The letter was for a woman who was blind and looked forward to hearing from her grandson who was away in the army. She asks the father to read the letter and then he hands it to his son to finish creating the letter as he reads it.
This is a simple film with the message of tradition, family and coming of age to understand that things are usually more complicated than is visible to the naked eye. Watching this father-son relationship evolve through the film as they experience the difficult and strenuous trek through the mountains to come to the aid of many village people, and put a smile on their faces keeps the film grounded with a simple message.