Postmen in the Mountains

Pittsburgh has some independent theaters that show great films all week long. Check out Pittsburgh Filmmakers. This week and next is the Three Rivers Film
Festival. I saw a Russian film, Vodka Lemon, about an Amenian village in Kurdistan - villagers trying to live amidst poverty, hopelessness. The film gave great scenes of vast mountains, snow, poverty. It ended with a slight message of hope.

The best film so far has been Postmen in the Mountains. It is about a letter carrier who has spent 30 yrs delivering mail in the mountains of China. He has been home only every 3 months so he and his son don't have a close relationship. He is retiring, and his son is becoming the new letter carrier. The father accompanies the son on the first trip - about 70 miles over 3 days through treacherous mountain paths - and the two bond. The son learns about his father's sense of values, and about the love the mountain villagers have for him. It is a delightful film, ultimately about the gift of love. What a movie! The cinematograhy was amazing - I could almost smell the mountain streams, the lush forests.