{ "id": "eph6rg0bb9", "slug": "buddha-mountain", "title": "Buddha Mountain (观音山)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014", "label": "Drama films 2010 to 2014", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014.psychological-and-social-drama-films", "label": "Psychological and social drama films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014.psychological-and-social-drama-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "China · 2001 to 2020: Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001", "label": "China · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Buddha Mountain (观音山, Guan Yin Shan) is a 2010 Chinese drama by director Li Yu, starring Fan Bingbing, Sylvia Chang, Chen Bolin, and Fei Long. It premiered at the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival, winning Best Artistic Contribution and Best Actress, and was released in mainland China in March 2011.", "snippet": "Buddha Mountain (观音山, Guan Yin Shan) is a 2010 Chinese drama by director Li Yu, starring Fan Bingbing, Sylvia Chang, Chen Bolin, and Fei Long. It premiered at the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival, winning Best Artistic Contribution and Best Actress, and was released in mainland China in March 2011.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014.psychological-and-social-drama-films", "markdown": "# Buddha Mountain (观音山)\n\n**Buddha Mountain** (观音山; *Guan Yin Shan*) is a 2010 Chinese drama film directed by [Li Yu](https://www.edgepedia.org/li-yu) (李玉), written by Li Yu and Fang Li (方励), and starring [Fan Bingbing](https://www.edgepedia.org/fan-bingbing), Chen Bolin, Fei Long, and Sylvia Chang. Set in Chengdu, Sichuan, it follows three aimless young tenants who move in with a retired [Peking opera](https://www.edgepedia.org/peking-opera) singer, Chang Yueqin, and gradually form a substitute family with her after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake leads them to help rebuild a mountain temple.[1](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E8%A7%82%E9%9F%B3%E5%B1%B1/2242149?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma) • [2](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2010-10-25/11503124755.shtml) The film premiered in competition at the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival on October 24, 2010, where it won the Award for Best Artistic Contribution and, for Fan Bingbing, the Award for Best Actress.[3](https://asianwiki.com/Buddha_Mountain)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title / director | 观音山 (*Guan Yin Shan*), directed by Li Yu; written by Li Yu and Fang Li[1](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E8%A7%82%E9%9F%B3%E5%B1%B1/2242149?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma) |\n| Principal cast | Sylvia Chang as Chang Yueqin; Fan Bingbing as Nan Feng; Chen Bolin as Ding Bo; Helong Wang (Fei Long) as Fei Zao[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1745713/credits/) |\n| Premiere | October 24, 2010, 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival, competition[3](https://asianwiki.com/Buddha_Mountain) |\n| Tokyo awards | Best Artistic Contribution; Best Actress (Fan Bingbing)[3](https://asianwiki.com/Buddha_Mountain) |\n| Mainland release | March 3, 2011 (Box Office Mojo and Baidu); AsianWiki lists March 4, 2011[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1745713/credits/) • [1](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E8%A7%82%E9%9F%B3%E5%B1%B1/2242149?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma) • [3](https://asianwiki.com/Buddha_Mountain) |\n| Box office | $10,673,606 worldwide, all from international release[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1745713/credits/) |\n| Key crew | Cinematographer Jian Zeng; composer Peyman Yazdanian; producers Fang Li and Peggy Chiao[3](https://asianwiki.com/Buddha_Mountain) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1745713/credits/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe story takes place in Chengdu. Three young people at the bottom of the social ladder live interdependent lives: Ding Bo (Chen Bolin) earns money driving an unlicensed motorcycle taxi, Nan Feng (Fan Bingbing) sings in bars, and Fei Zao (Fei Long) idles through his days.[2](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2010-10-25/11503124755.shtml) All three have failed or refused the college entrance examination and are in open conflict with their parents, and they want independence from their families.[5](https://m.wmoov.com/movie/details/15757) When their rented apartment is slated for demolition, they move into the home of Chang Yueqin (Sylvia Chang), a former Peking opera star who is grieving the loss of her son and prescribes strict household rules.[2](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2010-10-25/11503124755.shtml) • [6](https://www.clevelandfilm.org/films/buddha-mountain-2012/)\n\n**From conflict to kinship.** The tenants and the landlady first clash, playing pranks and imposing rules on each other. The discovery of secrets from Chang Yueqin's past acts, in the Golden Horse festival synopsis's words, like a catalyst: the four move from mutual rejection to understanding and mutual care, and the two generations come to accept each other as family.[7](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/279) Chang Yueqin's despair surfaces in a suicide attempt, after which the three young people take her to a temple on Guanyin Mountain, a place they had stumbled upon while sneaking rides on a freight train, and begin helping a monk restore a Buddha statue damaged in the earthquake.[8](https://openers.jp/en/lounge/lounge_movie/19075) • [6](https://www.clevelandfilm.org/films/buddha-mountain-2012/) The Sina Entertainment synopsis places this after the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake: the four drive to the disaster area, find a collapsed Guanyin temple on a mountain, and help the temple's monk rebuild it, an act that leads to an ending the synopsis describes as unforeseeable.[2](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2010-10-25/11503124755.shtml) The title refers to a real mountain and also marks the turning point in each character's state of mind.[2](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2010-10-25/11503124755.shtml)\n\n## Production and style\n\nLi Yu was born in 1973 in Shandong, China. She worked as a television host, wrote novels, and made documentaries before directing her first feature, the documentary-style *This Summer* (今年夏天), in 2000. Her film *Broken Bells* (红颜) won the European Art Award at the [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival) in 2005, and *Lost in Beijing* (苹果) competed at the Berlinale in 2007.[7](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/279) *Buddha Mountain* reunited her with Fan Bingbing after *Lost in Beijing*.[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/buddha_mountain)\n\nThe film was produced by Fang Li's Beijing Laurel Films (北京劳雷影业有限公司) together with Emei Film Group and other companies.[1](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E8%A7%82%E9%9F%B3%E5%B1%B1/2242149?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma) Jian Zeng served as cinematographer and Peyman Yazdanian as composer.[3](https://asianwiki.com/Buddha_Mountain) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1745713/credits/) Sina's review notes Li Yu's habitual handheld camera work, which gives the film a documentary-like texture and a sense of realism, supported by a soundtrack that follows the characters' emotional swings.[2](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2010-10-25/11503124755.shtml) A Chinese textbook analysis likewise describes the film as shot almost entirely with handheld cameras, with camera and actor blocking conveying the characters' sense of confinement and psychological discomfort.[10](https://mooc1.chaoxing.com/mooc-ans/ztnodedetailcontroller/visitnodedetail?_fromV2_=&_from_=&courseId=91875989&knowledgeId=91876014&rtag=) Before the mainland release, the writer Han Han wrote the lyrics for the theme song and described the film as \"youth on the road,\" a framing aimed at art-film audiences.[11](https://news.cnnb.com.cn/system/2011/03/04/006861928.shtml)\n\n## Reception and awards\n\nAt the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival (October 23–31, 2010), the film competed for the Tokyo Grand Prix and won the Award for Best Artistic Contribution and the Award for Best Actress for Fan Bingbing.[3](https://asianwiki.com/Buddha_Mountain) • [12](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/buddha-mountain/2030173620/) It was also nominated for Best Actress at the 2010 Golden Horse Awards.[7](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/279) A Sina commentary reports that the film missed the submission windows for the Berlin, Cannes, and Venice festivals, and that Tokyo served as compensation; it also calls the film the first production of producer Fang Li to succeed in both popular reputation and commercial operation.[13](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2011-04-18/16043285242.shtml)\n\nThe film then traveled widely on the festival circuit, with international premieres at Deauville (March 2011), Hong Kong, Udine, Reggio Emilia, New York (North American premiere, July 2011), Singapore, Vancouver, Chicago, Hawaii, and Toronto Reel Asian, and a Kansai premiere at Osaka in 2013 in a Li Yu retrospective.[3](https://asianwiki.com/Buddha_Mountain) • [14](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/buddha-mountain/)\n\n**Box office and runtime.** [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) records a worldwide gross of $10,673,606, entirely from international release, with the earliest release date March 3, 2011 in China.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1745713/credits/) Baidu Baike gives the mainland gross as 10.874 million US dollars as of May 20, 2024.[1](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E8%A7%82%E9%9F%B3%E5%B1%B1/2242149?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma) Reported running times differ across sources: 107 minutes in the Golden Horse archive, 105 minutes on MUBI, AsianWiki, and WMOOV, 101 minutes in the Cleveland International Film Festival catalog, and 109 minutes in the Japanese release materials.[7](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/279) • [15](https://mubi.com/en/us/films/buddha-mountain) • [6](https://www.clevelandfilm.org/films/buddha-mountain-2012/) • [8](https://openers.jp/en/lounge/lounge_movie/19075)\n\n## Critical response\n\nReviewers singled out the performances. Sina's festival review called the film Li Yu's most mature work to that point and praised Sylvia Chang's portrayal of the grieving mother, from suppressed weeping to breakdown, noting that Chang also performed Peking opera singing for the role of a Chengdu opera star.[2](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2010-10-25/11503124755.shtml) The Chlotrudis Society review described the film as contemporary, small in scale, and free of the nationalism common in recent Chinese cinema, and judged Fan Bingbing's volatile Nan Feng among her best work.[16](https://chlotrudis.org/review/buddha/) Variety's Russell Edwards called it an \"Asian indie apex\" in its treatment of the generation gap, and [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter)'s Elizabeth Kerr described it as a graceful exploration of loss and connection.[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/buddha_mountain) A Chinese film-studies analysis reads the film as an expression of lost youth and the collapse and rebuilding of an inner ruin, using quasi-documentary realism to portray the estrangement between two generations.[10](https://mooc1.chaoxing.com/mooc-ans/ztnodedetailcontroller/visitnodedetail?_fromV2_=&_from_=&courseId=91875989&knowledgeId=91876014&rtag=) Some critics noted weaknesses: Baidu Baike records the view that the episodic plot leaves gaps and makes the film's emotions jump, and the Chlotrudis review found the ambiguous ending not fully balanced between realism and symbolism.[1](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E8%A7%82%E9%9F%B3%E5%B1%B1/2242149?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma) • [16](https://chlotrudis.org/review/buddha/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [观音山 (2011年李玉执导的文艺电影), Baidu Baike](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E8%A7%82%E9%9F%B3%E5%B1%B1/2242149?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma)\n2. [《观音山》：李玉成熟之作 张艾嘉演技难忘, Sina Entertainment (2010-10-25)](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2010-10-25/11503124755.shtml)\n3. [Buddha Mountain, AsianWiki](https://asianwiki.com/Buddha_Mountain)\n4. [Buddha Mountain (2010), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1745713/credits/)\n5. [觀音山, WMOOV 香港電影](https://m.wmoov.com/movie/details/15757)\n6. [Buddha Mountain, Cleveland International Film Festival archives](https://www.clevelandfilm.org/films/buddha-mountain-2012/)\n7. [觀音山 Buddha Mountain, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival archive](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/279)\n8. [The Moving Masterpiece 'Buddha Mountain – Journey of Hope and Prayer' by Director Li Yu, Openers Japan](https://openers.jp/en/lounge/lounge_movie/19075)\n9. [Buddha Mountain, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/buddha_mountain)\n10. [《观音山》迷失主题表达 (course text, Chaoxing)](https://mooc1.chaoxing.com/mooc-ans/ztnodedetailcontroller/visitnodedetail?_fromV2_=&_from_=&courseId=91875989&knowledgeId=91876014&rtag=)\n11. [《观音山》登陆甬城, 中国宁波网 (2011-03-04)](https://news.cnnb.com.cn/system/2011/03/04/006861928.shtml)\n12. [Buddha Mountain, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/buddha-mountain/2030173620/)\n13. [评论：《观音山》与成熟的观众不期而遇, Sina Entertainment (2011-04-18)](https://ent.sina.com.cn/r/m/2011-04-18/16043285242.shtml)\n14. [Buddha Mountain, Film Society of Lincoln Center (New York Asian Film Festival 2011)](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/buddha-mountain/)\n15. [Buddha Mountain (2010), MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/us/films/buddha-mountain)\n16. [Buddha Mountain review, Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film](https://chlotrudis.org/review/buddha/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2010 to 2014 › Psychological and social drama films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/buddha-mountain", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/buddha-mountain.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Buddha Mountain (观音山)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/buddha-mountain. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Buddha Mountain (观音山)](https://www.edgepedia.org/buddha-mountain)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/buddha-mountain](https://www.edgepedia.org/buddha-mountain). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Buddha Mountain (观音山)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/buddha-mountain. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Buddha Mountain is a 2010 Chinese drama by director Li Yu, starring Fan Bingbing, Sylvia Chang, Chen Bolin, and Fei Long." }