Published at 4:46 PM on April 14, 2009

By Douglas Heselgrave

Tibetan Film Speaks for Itself

Until recently, movies about Tibet haven’t wavered much from the formula established by Frank Capra’s 1937 epic Lost Horizon, in which plane-crash victims discover the lost kingdom of Shangri-La—a magical place where time stands still and there is no war, violence or jealousy. Thankfully, since 1999, Himalayan filmmakers like Bhutanese monk Khyentse Norbu have started challenging these stereotypes by telling their own stories.

Now out on DVD, Milarepa is the region’s newest movie. Made by first-time director Neten Chokling (another Buddhist monk, and an actor in Norbu’s lighthearted debut The Cup), it tells the story of Tibet’s most popular cultural hero, a young man who studies black magic in an all-consuming quest for revenge against those who robbed his family. As exotic as the film’s subject may seem, Milarepa’s story is as familiar to Himalayan audiences as DeMille’s Biblical epics were to Americans in the 1950s.

Unlike recent American movies about Tibet, Milarepa does not explore overtly political themes, and—unlike Hollywood directors who have tackled the subject—Chokling has no plans of introducing Tibetan politics into his films. “What is happening in Tibet is a painful situation,” he says from his monastery in Bhutan, “yet the suffering taking place there is explored in Milarepa, and I hope that the messages of compassion, tolerance and honesty embodied in his story do get communicated and make an impact. Injustice, revenge and remorse are relevant in today’s world, though Milarepa’s story is 1,500 years old.”

Chokling is currently planning a sequel, and he doesn’t want to restrict himself to traditional stories. “We would like to tell the rest of Milarepa’s tale,” he says. “We’ll take a different approach that is less linear—more ‘modern’—with the hope that we could reach a wider audience. I have an ongoing discussion with Norbu about presenting our culture in stories that are not specifically Buddhist. I am interested in telling a modern tale without the structure of a traditional story, but with a focus on similar themes.”

AN INTRODUCTION TO FILMS ABOUT TIBET

Little Buddha (1993)
Despite the questionable casting of Keanu Reeves as the Siddhartha, Buddha admirably familiarizes Western audiences with the current situation
in Tibet, and with Buddhist concepts such as reincarnation.

Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
Brad Pitt stars as the Austrian climber Heinrich Harrer, who escapes to Tibet from a British prison camp in the Himalayas during World War II. While in Tibet he becomes the young Dalai Lama’s tutor and witnesses the first Chinese invasion in 1950.

Kundun (1997)
Martin Scorsese’s uneven Dalai Lama biopic describes the Tibetan leader’s childhood up until the time he was forced to flee his homeland with the Chinese army in hot pursuit. 

The Cup (1999)
The first major release from a Himalayan director is a delightful comedy about monks at a remote monastery searching for a TV to watch the World Cup.

Travelers and Magicians (2003)
Norbu’s follow-up to The Cup is an even better film that explores humor and pathos in a way that owes as much to Woody Allen as it does to traditional Tibetan storytelling.

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