"Mountain Patrol: Kekexili" is Chinese director Lu Chuan's second feature, set in the gorgeous titular Tibetan plateau where Tibetan antelopes were and are still being poached and mercilessly shot with their numbers dwindling from about a million to around 10,000 in the 1990s. This film is an effort to commemorate the selfless patrol jobs performed by one-time civilian volunteers who acted as natural reserve wardens in that part of the country. Sadly some of the face-offs with the illegal poachers resulted in many of these patrols being killed, which the movie depict in shocking detail.<br /><br />As the film ended I found myself with mixed feelings towards "Kekexili: Mountain Patrol". Lauded in many film festivals and picking up a Best Film prize at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards Festival, "Kekexili" is very powerful thematically, and Lu Chuan makes his points very saliently: back in the 1990s, doing mountain patrolling to help protect these endangered animals was a thankless task, not help by lack of manpower, funds and weapons. In a powerful scene where the patrol chief Ritai speaks to Beijing reporter Ga Yu, the former confides that he has almost no help or money to support his efforts. Ironically he has to even sell the pelts to raise funds even though this is an illegal act. The patrols face uncertain deaths every time they confront a band of poachers, since they may readily be out-gunned or simply shot. This is what happened to two of the patrol members as shown at the start and end of the movie.<br /><br />Narratively, however, the film leaves a little to be desired. The film is sparse and few incidents packed its 89-minute running time; the movie often reveals itself as something as a travelogue guide to Kekexili, although the cinematography is striking and beautiful. The pacing is lax although the editing is fast paced, giving an odd tempo to the film. Several scenes might strike one as being more appropriate for a documentary: indeed, were it not for the fact the film is re-enacting the 1990s effort at animal conservation, "Kekexili" might better be made as a non-fiction picture. Take the scene where the patrol truck gets stuck in the river: the patrols work together to get it out of the slush rut and it lasts several minutes. In a documentary this might be interesting with a voice-over, but in a narrative film like "Kekexili", the scene appears heading for nowhere in particular, merely extending the running time. Also, amateur actors may be fine for certain scenes, but they mostly appear unmemorable and faceless and it might not be surprising that the two professional leads are the ones most readily recalled at the film's end.<br /><br />Despite all these flaws, "Kekexili" has three powerful scenes which make watching it worthwhile - all coming in the later parts of the film. One is the aforementioned dialog between Ritai and Ga Yu, when Lu Chuan makes his thematic points an hour into the movie. Another occurs when one of the patrols sinks - and is engulfed - by a quagmire of quicksand. The last and most shocking comes at the end when the chief is shot for trying to apprehend the poachers. It makes the point very strongly that in numbers and in weaponry, the mountain patrols cannot match these wealthy illegal poachers. "Kekexili" comes across finally as an impassioned and powerful - even if flawed - plea for the Chinese government to up their efforts to apprehend these offenders. By the looks of the Beijing Olympics 2008, where the Tibetan antelope was chosen as one of the five mascots, Lu Chuan's goal might be achieved already.