A delayed release

Director Ning Hao says that he is more prepared for changes in the future. Provided to China Daily

Trailer of Ning Hao's No Man's Land

Behind the scenes of No Man's Land

Still photos of No Man's Land

In 2004, during a one-month stay on the border of China and Mongolia, he found that skills he learned in a civilized society were actually not that useful. He had to observe the sky to tell the weather, discover directions without a device, find water source, and so on.

"Human beings think they are a more superior species than other animals, but in certain environments they are not," Ning says. "What really makes us the most powerful on this planet is altruism, something we form a society on. The animal instincts and social identity co-exist in us and often fight, more fiercely in a perilous environment."

In No Man's Land Ning puts his protagonist, a shrewd lawyer-one of the professions most adept at handling human relations-on the Gobi Desert of Xinjiang in West China. He lost his mobile phone signals, car and money. His debating skills were of no use in front of a cruel falcon smuggler, a killer, a prostitute and two silly robbers. To survive, he struggled like an animal, but it was his social identity that fulfills his redemption.

He told his lead actor Xu Zheng to act as if he was a dog. "What does a dog do? Bite, eat, or it dies."

It is a style new to Chinese film. Violence, cruelty, lots of villains. Law and order turned futile. But it is in step with films by Quentin Tarantino, Sergio Leone and the Coen Brothers, in which the characters fight one danger after another on a remote, adverse territory.

It was indeed a work that could only be made by a young director on top of the world, who thinks it is the best time to share his understanding of humanity with those worshipping him, even if the way he tells it could challenge the status quo.

The film was not released as Ning planned. Authorities did not release official statements, but Zhao Baohua, member of the censorship committee, gave some hints in his blog in 2010.

"In Ning Hao's No Man's Land, people loot and kill. They are lawless. There is no character who is not depraved."

The film's other star Huang Bo explained it in a more explicit way: "As China has no rating system, some scenes in this film will indeed cause unpleasant feelings for younger audiences."

According to insiders who have seen both the original and the theatrical versions, some violent takes were given a milder treatment, and a new, warmer ending brings more hope.

Related:

Ning film makes tardy debut

Ning Hao's 'No Man Land' comes home to China after 3 years

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