Voyageurs et magiciens

A friend of mine from Bhutan borrowed this movie to me. Yes "borrowed"... not given to me, after all it is such a lovely movie to add it on your collection. Though Bhutan is not known for movie making and all, but this will surely leave a question in your head and you are sure going to say..."WOW, NOT BAD AT ALL". I must say that this movie is far better than thousands of Bollywood movies. The direction is superb and the cinematic beauties of Bhutan added a lot of charismatic on this film. All the actors really acted well, realistic down to the core. I really love this movie, the way it unwinds the story, and the way the characters enter story is awesome. The little of humors here and there adds lots of value to it. And not to forget, the utterance of wisdoms by the monk are so realistic that one will surely illuminate his or her ignorance. A must watch movie for those who love "good movie". Thumps up and hats off to the team.

I did not find this film preachy or disappointing. You're seeing a Bhutanese film. What exactly did you expect?? I thought it was hilarious, the characters were fantastic, the story is a classic in any culture. It is particularly poignant, however, in a culture that has so far been largely untouched by the 'advances' of the outside world. The scenery was beautiful, of course, but the shots, the cinematography was also outstanding. The humour was subtle and clever. Having a real story, and a good secondary story, does not make it preachy in my opinion. It's a coming of age story, it's a love story. 'Foreign' does not necessarily mean it's a great film, but in this case, I think it works.

A man who's just been given an important position in his village is still not satisfied with life. He dreams of a more prosperous life in America. So he starts his journey along with other travellers. This is a beguiling film full of marvellous wisdom that rings true for everyone. As the journey slowly continues one of the travellers tells a story within the story which is just as compelling as the real one. There's also some wonderful images of Bhutan that will make you wonder if it's possible to go there for your next vacation! Delightful.(8/10)

It's a bit simplistic to call this a "road movie", but certainly much of the story follows a group of unlikely Bhutanese travellers hitch-hiking and riding in all manner of vehicles. Interspersed with this theme is a second story of a love triangle in the rugged mountains. Both stories are commentaries about the complexities of life and romance in the Himalayas as western ways take root.

Comparisons will inevitably be drawn with Khyentse Norbu's earlier movie, The Cup, and I have to admit that I preferred The Cup. I'll never forget the youthful exuberance of those monks as the World Cup soccer final approached. And I feel the Buddhist message was a bit more direct in The Cup.

However, the tagline of Travellers and Magicians is "The bitter and sweet of temporary things", and this sounds pretty Buddhist to me. We tend to forget that everything is transitory and grasp at it as if it will exist forever, and this is the cause of our suffering.

And that, kind friends, is the extent of my Buddhist wisdom for today.

Enjoy!

In this, his second film, Khyentse Norbu shows how skilled a filmmaker he really is. An ordained lama, he studied independent film-making in New York and here it really pays off. While his first film, The Cup, was a well done portrait of life in Bhutan, Travellers and Magicians is that and much more. Taking his cue from, among other works, the great Ju Dou by Zhang Yimou, Norbu gives us a village official who longs for the excitement and money to be had in America.

Sporting shiny white new athletic shoes, the official makes his way to the main road where he tries to catch a bus to Thimbu, first stop on his journey. But he misses the bus and soon meets up with an interesting assortment of fellow travelers--an old apple seller, a monk, and a farmer with his beautiful daughter. While waiting for the bus--or anyone driving who can give any or all of them a ride--they're entertained by the monk who tells a tale of a young apprentice magician who loses his way in a large forest and comes upon an old man and his much younger wife.

Norbu intercuts the ongoing tale with different legs of the travelers' journey on the seemingly endless road. The editing chops on display here are truly impressive, marking this as the work of a director who really knows how to make a film grab the viewer. We see the young magician lying in bed at night, thinking only of the young wife, and dissolve to the official waking up in the morning, having no doubt thought of the farmer's daughter much of the night.

This is much more than great editing; it gives us strong links between how we live our lives and how we imagine our lives should be lived. The tales we tell, the ones we remember, are those that inform how we feel we should or could do what we're not doing now. It's our memory of another story--what we read long ago, or what someone told us long ago--that gives us the unofficial subconscious laws we live by. That's what Norbu tells us in this great film.

A giant leap forward from The Cup, Travellers and Magicians is a first class cinematic work that should be seen by many.

Highly recommended.