movie: "Himalaya"

mrostov

mrostov

Joined
Jun 24, 2003
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Found this neat subtitled drama released in theaters in 2002 hidden away in the foreign language section of Hollywood Video's DVD rentals. It earned a 'Best Foreign Film' nomination at the Hollywood acadamy awards in 1999 under the title of "Caravan".

Evidently it took 7 months to film in the remote Dolpo region of Nepal, where it seems that the population is predominantly Buddhist rather than Hindu.

It's about a remote village that needs to get it's yearly yak caravan of salt over the mountains to trade and the conflict of the old chief and the younger man that is his likely successor.

It's a beautifully filmed movie and I recommend taking the time out to watch it.
 
sounds wonderful. Thank you.


Movie Reviews:

a movie review by: Susan Stark

Movies like Tomb Raider, The Fast and the Furious and Dr. Dolittle 2 take you away from your life for the moment. Movies like Himalaya transport you, enduringly.
That's a major difference in degree and quality, if not kind. Those looking for a quick shot of big-screen relief from summer's tedium and heat know where to go; the choices are plentiful. Those looking for a more enduring opposite to the humdrum have fewer choices in this season, especially. Himalaya, therefore, becomes an especially valuable alternative to standard summer movie fare.
A directorial debut by established French author, photojournalist and documentarian Eric Valli, it takes the audience to the remote northwest Tibetan region of Dolpo. There, a tradition-bound chief faces the annual, all-important, arduous cross-mountain run that results in a trade of grain for salt.
This time, the chief's chore is more testing than ever. His son has been killed. He has a grandchild who is still a boy but who is looking for a role model. He also has a challenger in a strong, charismatic young man who knows a faster way through the mountains than tradition takes the old chief and his party.
Valli invokes both spiritual and practical values in his account of a drama that tests the old ways against the new.
He is sensitive to theme but Himalaya's claim to attention starts and ends with stunning visuals. An Oscar nominee last year for best foreign film, it won France's Cesar, the Oscar in that country, for best cinematography.
No wonder.
Valli's use of imagery, from silhouette to gauzy impressionism, is breathtaking. Indeed, you come away from Himalaya thinking that any freeze frame chosen at random qualifies for art photographic honors: Weathered hands around a pen, a cup, a garment being washed, the aggressive yellow of a fire against a blue-black nightscape, an old man's proud face, brow and mustache tipped white by mountain snow.
There's no denying the dramatic impact of the film's intimate look at the traditional ways of an ancient, fragile, endangered Tibetan community. Yet Himalaya's primary claim to attention is its extraordinary command of visuals -- in Cinemascope, for good measure.
Movie Review by Susan Stark
 
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