The viewer will be amazed by the rolling plains and endless skies of Mongolia seen in “Mongolian Ping Pong.” But these things don’t interest the three little boys at the heart of the movie. They’re used to the scenic beauty.
Revelations: Three boys in the vast grasslands of Mongolia discover a ping pong ball floating downstream one day – a discovery that sets off a series of amusing and understated events in Ning Hao’s gorgeously photographed movie. (In Mongolian, with English subtitles.)
Rated: Not rated; probably PG for subject matter Now showing: Varsity
“Mongolian Ping Pong” HHH
However, when a solitary ping pong ball comes floating down the little stream that runs past their yurts, the boys are duly amazed. And puzzled. What is this strange, lightweight, flavorless little sphere?
The grandmother to one of the boys imparts that it is probably a magical pearl, possessing unknown powers. But they also overhear a TV broadcast (a guy standing on a ladder holding an antenna almost gets reception – well, except for the video part) during which someone refers to ping pong as the “national ball.” And if the boys are in possession of the “national ball,” shouldn’t they return it to the nation?
As you can see, all manner of possibilities rise out of this flukey incident. And that is the pleasure of this leisurely paced but deftly funny movie, which takes us into a world rarely seen on film.
The setting is reminiscent of the Oscar-nominated “Story of the Weeping Camel,” but this movie is closer to “Napoleon Dynamite” than a National Geographic special. It’s warm-hearted, but not square; the first thing we see is people on the Mongolian plain getting a souvenir photo taken in front of a backdrop of Beijing’s Forbidden City – while surrounded by the breathtaking splendor of their own landscape.
Director Ning Hao’s approach is full of understated ironies. He takes time to notice the small things, like the way our bumptious trio of heroes, who seem like such immature tykes, are quietly hero-worshiped by another group of even littler boys.
Just when you think the film has played out its trifle of a premise (and after a delightful episode when the boys think they’re setting off across the Gobi Desert on the way to Beijing), Ning Hao extends the ending so his central lad can experience a revelation the whole movie’s been building toward. With typical taste, the director doesn’t share the sight with the audience. But by that time, we don’t need to see to understand.
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