We Chinese are now living in an age of rapid urbanization. In most inland cities, this process is feeding on the development of resource-based industries, for example the mining and real estate industries. As cities spread their tentacles across the country, the force of urbanization inevitably flows over the rural areas and brings challenge to the lives and values of the locals. The movie ‘Mr. Tree’ is about this confrontation.

The main character is a peasant farmer called Shu, or tree in Chinese. When most people in the village are thriving in the process of urbanization, Shu finds it difficult to make a living, and no one pays him enough respect. After a series of failures and humiliations, he finally loses his sanity and becomes a psychic fortune teller, a common figure in Chinese villages.

Perhaps many moviegoers' first reaction is to sympathize with a character of such tragic fate. A victim of urbanization, Shu has obviously lost land as the means of living, and is compelled to challenge himself in vain in the city. But on second thought, the viewers may find out more reasons why the director would choose to tell the story of such a victim.

Shu is a symbol of Chinese rural values. He is continually haunted by the ghost of his father who represents the strict paternal power upheld in traditional Chinese villages, and Shu himself is a defender of the social system that values the concept of blood relation and intergeneration courtesy. As a man short of ability and achievement, he could only count on his seniority of generation for decent respect from his fellow villagers. But when everyone around him fails to deliver that respect, he suffers a value system breakdown. In his insanity, he forms a bizarre spiritual connection with a tree that gives him supernatural power, a development that coincides with the reality in Chinese villages where superstitions are still common practice.

Actor Wang Baoqing, who rose from grass-root to stardom, presents a vivid portrayal of a peasant farmer caught in the clash of urban and rural cultures. Better still is the young director Han Jie, a disciple of realist director Jia Zhangke who is keen on depicting the lives of ordinary Chinese men. Generally the film flows all right but there is noticeable incongruence, for example Shu’s relation with a deaf girl is sped up to marriage, in order to provide the occasion that break Shu’s nerves. However, Han does make up for his drawback through his attention to details, and the use of surrealistic scenes which is, according to many critics, a breakthrough from his master.

It takes some romantic courage for a director to turn out realistic products. In terms of box office, Mr. Tree is not even listed in the Top 10, but I have to say it deserves better than most of those in the list. On a scale from one to ten, I give this film 7.5.