'' The Horse Thief '' is a 1986 Chinese film by 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 ( which was not widely released in the United States until the 1990s ) as his favourite from the 1990s on the television show '' Roger Ebert & the Movies '' . '' 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 . On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , '' The Horse Thief '' has an approval rating of 100 % based on 9 reviews . Derek Adams from the magazine Time Out gave the film a good review , stating : " It offers the most awesomely plausible account of Tibetan life and culture ever seen in the west . It 's one of the few films whose images show you things you 've never seen before . " Janet Maslin from The New York Times gave it three out of five stars , concluding : " The Chinese film '' The Horse Thief '' is best watched as pure spectacle , since it unfolds almost entirely without benefit of dialogue . What little talk there is tends to be plain and to the point ( '' If only we had stew '' ) . However , from the scenic and ethnographic standpoints the film is often quite arresting . " Jonathan Rosenbaum writing for the Chicago Reader praising the film , saying : " Tian 's originality and mastery of sound and image communicate directly , beyond the immediate trappings of the film 's slender plot ( a horse thief expelled from his clan ) and regional culture ( Buddhist death rituals ) , expressing an environmental and ecological mysticism that suggests a new relationship between man and nature . Tian had said that he made this for the 21st century , yet even today it 's a film of the future . " In 1988 , The Horse Thief won the " Distribution Help Award " ( tied with Yeelen ) at the Fribourg International Film Festival . In April 2019 , a restored version of the film was selected to be shown in the Cannes Classics section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival
2019 Cannes Film Festival
2019 Cannes Film Festival
The Horse Thief