A man goes to his hometown in China to fulfill his mother’s wish with his daughter tagging along making a documentary of the process.
Directed by Yumeng He, The Other Side of the Mountain is a 20-minutes (or just about) short documentary that is evocative personal, and humble. The story here is simple, yet beautiful. It’s a story of looking into one’s past, their ancestry, where they come from while sharing this with their own descendant and their legacy. There is deep humanity in this these 20 minutes, something utterly charming in the simplicity of what they are doing and how they are doing it. The film is one that almost anyone can relate to no matter where they are from. The film is done from a very personal point of view, giving the viewer access to real life without fluff or shade, just out in the open, honest and charming.
The main person on the screen is the filmmaker’s father who is likable and charming, giving the film personality and a particularly human touch. Joining him are the various people he meets along the way, most of them (really almost all of them) are warm and friendly with a few who just come off neutral. The sequence with the mother on a video call while someone else does a video call with one of her old friends is particularly touching. The folks involved here show that no matter where you are or who you are, humanity is very similar.
The style in which the film is shot is rather personal with clear cinematography that has few flourishes. Still, the film looks good, is carefully framed, well lit (or makes great use of ambient and natural light), showing that simplicity can often serve subjects like this perfectly. The sound works also works well and helps give an idea of the ambiance and atmosphere of each location while allowing the story to be told clearly.
The Other Side of the Mountain is charming in its simplicity, it makes the most of its runtime with quality images and an attention to detail that works well for it. The film here is a short, just under 20 minutes, but could easily have been 90 minutes and still have kept its interest. The film here i one that is easy to watch while giving the viewer a slice of life in a place they may not know very well, in a way that feels familiar, helping give it that extra human touch that helps documentaries make the most of their time on the screen no matter the runtime.