Postmen in the Mountains

Postmen in the Mountains follows an aging mail carrier in the mountainous region of Hunan province as he prepares to retire. His only son is set to take over the route, and the father accompanies him on one last journey through the mountains. What begins as a handover becomes something more, as the son comes to understand the difficulty of the work his father has done for so long, and the two confront the distance and unspoken feeling between them. The film is a drama about inheritance, duty and the relationship between a parent and a child.

The film was directed by Huo Jianqi and written by Si Wu, produced by Li Xiaogeng, Kang Jianmin and Han Sanping through Beijing Film Studio and Xiaoxiang Productions Ltd. It runs 93 minutes and stars Teng Rujun as the Father, Liu Ye as the Son, Zhao Xiuli as the Mother, Gong Yeheng as the Fifth Wife, Chen Hao as the Dong Girl and Dang Haoyu as the Young Father. Chronologically, it is the first of two films directed by Huo Jianqi listed here, coming before Love in the 1980s (2015).

The film was released in October 1999. On TMDB it holds a rating of 7.7 out of 10 from 61 votes, which suggests a small but appreciative audience for this quiet, character-driven story.