Travellers & Magicians
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Movie Reviews of Travellers & Magicians
Movie Review: A great lesson
Summary: 4 Stars
The archetypal tale of finding contentment in ones own backyard is portrayed in this delightful film about a wandering local government official in Bhutan. While "on the road" the official and his co-travelers,(monk, fair maiden, fruit seller) reflect on the lessons of the monks stories about suffering and clinging to false concepts of stability. The pace of this film is most likely slow for American audiences but the pace is integral to highlighting the conflicts within the government officials desire to find nirvana in materialism.Movie Review: Beautiful film that never quite realizes its ambitions
Summary: 3 Stars
It's obvious that director/writer Khyentse Norbu had a statement to make - about his country Bhutan, about the Bhutanese film industry, and about finding happiness right where you are. Unfortunately, he can't deliver on all counts.
From the opening scenes the film is testament to the beauty of the Himalayan mini-state of Bhutan. Any film maker watching this movie must be running through his head all manner of scenarios to exploit the country's natural beauty. That Travelers and Magicians was made with local crew and cast speaks admirably to the abilities of the Bhutanese to create world-class film.
But the script reveals that Khyentse Norbu, while perhaps a great scholar of Buddhism, is not always a great writer of stories. His debut film, The Cup, was a charming tale built on an ensemble cast of mostly children, a simple story about monks infatuated with soccer who go to comedic lengths to watch live broadcasts of the World Cup.
Travelers and Magicians is a bit more complex. It's a story within a story, requiring the director to not only deliver on two fronts but to seamlessly weave from the two a unified whole. The film begins in modern Bhutan with Dondup, a young man infatuated with the USA and eager to escape the simple rural life of Bhutan. On the road to the capital of Thimphu, he meets up with a monk, who in Dondup is reminded of Tashi, a young lad restless for adventure. To while away the long hours of travel, the monk begins his story of long, long ago and throughout the film we cut back and forth between Dondup and the monk, and the tale of Tashi.
The fable is for all its soft tones, titled camera angles, and vivid colors, the more realistic of the two stories. We see how Tashi and his supporting cast develop over the course of the story, how they change through their interactions with each other.. The same can't be said for the characters in the framing story, who come off as devices, stereotypical, one dimensional stand-ups - the disillusioned youth seeking escape, the wise monk who reminds him of the verities of life, the innocent girl whose charm and beauty softens the hero's heart, and the country bumpkins who tag along for comic relief. By the end of the film, we hardly know them at all. While Dondup comes to realize that happiness is not something to seek from without but from within, it's a last minute conversion that leaves a hollow, empty feeling.
Travelers and Magicians is an obvious labor of love from cast and crew and where effort and earnestness are concerned there is no doubt the film is deserving of the highest honors. If only the magicians had spun a spell over the script, it would be perfect.
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Movie Review: There's no place like home
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a beautiful film which also serves as a travelogue for Bhutan. The story is sweet with darker overtones that make it an adult fable with a moral as old as "The Wizard of Oz." A restless young Bhutanese man wants to go to America. He travels in ways he doesn't expect, and his fellow travellers give him insights into his own heart. The film feels a lot like Spanish magical realism, yet told from a Buddhist perspective. The story unfolds at a rather stately pace, so the viewer needs to relax into it and just enjoy this brief trip to Bhutan.Movie Review: Eh. What do monks know about flirting?
Summary: 2 Stars
While this story has merits it is not anything like the Cup in terms of style or presentation- in fact it looks like it was quickly shot on video. Perhaps this would have been a nice short film, but the fact that a young man desires a hottie at the bus stand in the moment he is leaving does not make a full movie. I will tell the truth because to lie aboout a Lama or Monk is worse than to lie about anyhing. Better luck next time- and leave the liscensciousness and desire to us sinners. The Cup was so good because the director knew his terrain, this movie is lost and a tiresome wandering, and the kind words pandering. Still, it is serene and the locations are nice hills and mountains.Movie Review: complete and utter waste of time
Summary: 1 Stars
ok, you can stop being intrigued by the whole "produced by a monk from bhutan" marketing scheme.. the main character has absolutely no depth or personality and the screenplay is painfully shallow and predictable.. im embarrassed for whoever is involved with and responsible for this release.
watch the motorcycle diaries instead for some actual character development, an involving storyline and a REAL glimpse into your soul..