Tibet – Cry of The Snow Lion
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: B- Documentary: B
There have been programs that have looked at the current
Dalai Lama, and Martin Scorsese’s underrated Kundun (1997) showed his
life and exile via Chinese military intervention and incentive-induced
immigration of native Chinese into Tibet for business and economic “growth” on
China’s behalf. Tom Peosay’s Tibet –
Cry Of The Snow Lion (2002) goes even further to not ignore the Dalai Lama
or Buddhism, but to strongly focus on Tibet and the fate of native people of
Tibet.
This includes a new Apartheid system that makes it
financially impossible for anyone in Tibet to be able to go to school or be
employed. It shows China’s shocking new
financial growth, as the last great Communist power goes Capitalist, though
many would argue it is in a stage of late Capitalism. Tibet is being used, somewhat as Hong Kong (for which it is too
late for even China to turn back the clock or risk international incident), as
an exception where some “progress can be made as it serves the interest of
mainland China to have such outlets and keep it strict control on its sphere of
influence.
If that was not bad enough, the Chinese have 300,000
troops in Tibet and have repeatedly kidnapped, tortured, publicly humiliated
and killed millions. 1.2 Million is the
death toll, but it is obvious China does not understand that this is not going
to stop or change anything. They are
mistaking the nature of the faithful in Tibet as the aggressors they want to
portray them as and are actually causing the first crack in their hold on Tibet
itself, a country they cannot ever state for certain whether it is a part of
China or not. With the 1989 uprising in
their own country and the fact that the people of Tibet are not going to
disappear, China needs to consider where to draw the line, because the current
course of action is not compatible with the new century. A Chinese official said they were living
better than African Americans under U.S. slavery, but I noticed how Jewish
persecution and the plight of Native Americans were conveniently skipped.
Another great thing about this program is how much it
shows of the greatness and joy of the Tibetan people. This is not to make overgeneralizations about anyone’s goodness,
a stereotype as damning as any negative one, but it is obvious that the way
these people live is no threat to China or the rest of the world. The very nature of their culture and
religion do not threaten anyone, one that is remarkable with all the
technologization we have today. China
just treats it without conscious as a place for them to do what they please,
and it is not. Tibet – Cry Of The
Snow Lion will go down as one of the most important documents of why.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 image was recently shot on what
looks to be professional NTSC equipment and in that, it looks clean
enough. The footage is often beautiful
of Tibet, though it is eventually joined by stills and stock footage of Chinese
atrocities (acting no better than the Japanese once did towards them) and many
vital interviews. The Dolby Digital 5.1
is not bad for a dialogue-driven documentary, though some of the music is
helped a great deal by this. Otherwise,
this is a very subtle use of 5.1, but makes the audio clearer. Martin Sheen narrates, while the likes of
actors including Shirley Knight, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris join
him to do translation voiceovers.
Extras include a Music Video, 55 minutes of footage of life in
traditional Tibet in five segments, additional Dalai Lama speech footage and
more of the Robert Thurman, PhD interview, and five trailers for this and other
New Yorker DVDs are also included.
Our previous look at the situation and Dalai Lama was Tibetan
Refugee, still posted of course, but Tibet – Cry Of The Snow Lion
takes a big step forward to getting out the message about a scourge and crisis
that has to somehow end before it becomes an even bigger nightmare.
- Nicholas Sheffo
