Name: Na shan na ren na gou
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 h 33 min
Rating: 7.8
Cast: Rujun Teng, Ye Liu, Hao Chen

The story looks as simple as it can be. It is simply a record of the journey of two postmen in the mountains, father, son and their dog. The father is retiring and the son is taking over the job, with the help of their dog Buddy, who has been helping all along. But wait...

If you enjoy the docudrama style of "Not One Less" by Zhang Yimou, you will love this movie. It makes use of similar techniques but to an even more superb level. It does not attempt to 'tell a story', but simply lets the facts, conflicts and feelings unfold as the journey of the father and son goes on. It is so 'real' that even the names of the characters were not mentioned, they are just 'the postman', 'the son' as people would address them. (And as you would address your postman.)

The 'son' is one of the very few Chinese actors in recent Chinese cinema with cute looks and top quality acting. All the other actors did a great job as well.

The cinematography is excellent, especially when compared to most Chinese movies where lighting is poor. But this is not too surprising, knowing that the director had been an Art Director before.

The movie was based in the early 80's in China, and I just wonder if they are still using the same methods to distribute mail. Anyway I would like to pay my respect to all mail staff who have taken part in the difficult process of helping people  communicate with each other, making the world a smaller and happier place.

Mandarin-language cinema across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Singapore explores historical reflection, cultural identity, and personal sacrifice, often expressed through poetic visuals and sweeping narratives. In Mainland China, this takes the form of allegory and large-scale epics that reflect on national history. Taiwan emphasizes intimate modernist realism, generational change, and the search for identity. Singapore contributes stories of migration, multiculturalism, and the negotiation of tradition in a globalized city.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

A father, a retiring mailman, walks his son over his job in the mountainous regions of Hunan province.

The Biggest Movies and TV Coming in September

See which big screen releases you can watch from the comfort of your couch.

Theatrical Releases Coming to Streaming

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Songwen Zhang and Zhilei Xin in The Sun Rises on Us All (2025)

Postmen in the Mountains

Photos217

Top Cast6

User reviews20

More like this

Related interests

Storyline

Did you know

Top picks

Details

Box office

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed