A monkey burns away everything he is to become human. The animation renders that transformation in traditional ink, each frame collapsing into the next like ash settling. This is a film about the cost of belonging, told through a legend most people have never heard of, animated in a language that predates cinema. The Holy Mountain isn't a reward at the end. It's what you lose to reach it.
Drawn from an old legend of the Qiang people, who live in the mountains of southwest China, this fantasy adventure film centers on a monkey raised among humans. He retraces the route his mother, Awubaji, once took to the Holy Mountain, hoping to learn the secret of warmth. The way is full of hardship and danger, and in the end he obtains a fire stone. His fur burns away, and he becomes a human being. Painted in the manner of traditional Chinese ink art, the film offers a poetic picture of prehistoric life, and its tale of a fire thief touches on growing up and companionship. It marks a return for the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, the home of many well-known Chinese animated works.
