Travellers and Magicians (2003/2005)
This is one of those fun and wonderful
surprises that just makes seeing foreign films a real
treat. Sure, it's a bit contrived and we see where
it is headed quite easily, but, as the film surmises,
the journey is often as important and as wonderful
as arriving at a destination or discovering an answer
that we already know.
Set in a small village, we wonder
at first if we aren't seeing a period piece. But soon
modern Asian pop music enters the film and we realize
that these are modern times. This trick is not only
a bit humorous, but it also serves to create a plot
point in the film and help us understand the main
characters boredom and wanderlust.
This is a film split in two by containing
a story and a story within the story, a parable told
by one of the characters which serves to punctuate
the theme of the film. This secondary story also works
as a construct around which the base story is woven.
Juxtaposed, the parable obviously serves as lesson
for the main character as well as the viewer. Through
its telling, we are evolved as easily as he.
The cinematography here is simply
beautiful and the film unfolds in such a wise and
relaxed manner, that we only have to kick back and
enjoy the telling of it. The images wash over us,
especially in the fable section of the story, and
we grow quite comfortable letting the film take us
over and awash us in its interesting tales.
The acting here is wonderful with
the real standout being Tsewang Dandup as the nervous,
impatient officer who evolves so wonderfully over
the playing out of the story. This is a character
with a wonderful arc, one that we grow to like as
he changes through the course of the film. Dandup
is not afraid to be unlikable or even irritating.
His character is obviously foolish and misguided at
the beginning of the film but we also easily understand
his wanderlust.
With its leisurely approach to telling
its dual tales, "Travellers and Magicians" is indeed
a magical journey.
Notes:
In Dzongkha with subtitles.
Written and directed by Khyentse
Norbu.
The film is the first to be shot
in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, which was the
inspiration prototype for the 1937 film "Lost Horizon"
The film debuted at Toronto in 2003
but didn't begin its arthouse run in the USA until
January of 2005.
Viewed on a VHS tape provided by
the distributor and the Dobie Theater in April 2005.
