Annecy Review: Mu Yi and the Handsome General's beautiful animation and music are squandered on a haphazard story
On a remote mountain in the Chinese countryside, there is a small village of women. Most of them are older women, hunched with age and in touch with the traditional spiritual practices of the region. They respect nature, the spirits, the gods, and the rules . The number one rule is that no men are allowed in the village. One of the many rules that rankles teenage Mu Yi, who's best friends with two brothers (one a teenager, one much younger) who have been abandoned by their parents and live nearby. The three of them ride a water buffalo down the road sometimes, where tourist buses pass through, and try to sell trinkets to the unsuspecting tourists. Or, I guess maybe they are suspecting tourists, because they think said trinkets are witchcraft-related talismans, and that the village is a place of evil. Thus is the stage set for Mu Yi and the Handsome General (also known as just Mu Yi -- it isn't clear what the final English title will be), a film that feels like it never...
