Dreamy and deliberate, "Postmen in the Mountains" doesn't sound like much of a premise. A father who has delivered the mail in the rugged Hunan province of China all his life passes his route on to his son. He accompanies him for one last journey through the mountains and towns.

That's it. No avalanches, floods or marauding mail bandits. Teng Rujun, as Father, and Liu Ye, as Son, march up and down the steep slopes, through verdant valleys and into tiny, odd villages. It couldn't get much simpler than this -- they are postmen in the mountains.

But there's more going on here, and if you give it a chance, "Postmen" will pull you in. For starters, this isn't the kind of mail route where you stroll down the sidewalk. In all, it takes three full days and two nights to complete.

They climb sheer cliffs with the help of a rope thrown down by a villager, wade icy rivers and haul the heavy mailbag for about 140 miles. A little rain, sleet or dark of night would be a welcome relief on a route like this.

The demands of the job have meant that Father has been an absent dad much of the time. Son has never felt comfortable with him, a feeling that isn't helped by Father's gruff, no-nonsense exterior. And, like fathers everywhere, he can't resist offering way too much advice, which his son resents.

Not many filmmakers could have held our interest through the early scenes, when Father and Son seem like cardboard characters, but director Huo Jianqi has the gift. It helps that the landscape is stunning. Pullback shots of the trail, with birds wheeling, make the Hunan province look like a vacation destination.

We also learn more about Father. He isn't retiring voluntarily. He's being forced out, partly because