Dreaming Lhasa (2005/Tibet/Human Rights Watch/First Run Features)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: B- Film: B
After
several dramatic films about the Dalai Lama and many documentaries on he, his
religion, Tibet, the faith’s exile to India and China’s role in all this, the
Ritu Sarin/Tenzing Sonam film Dreaming
Lhasa (2005) about a young lady filmmaker named Karma who travels from New
York to Dharamsala, the relocated headquarters in India of Buddhism and the
Dalai Lama. There, she finds the mixture
of hope and hopelessness of a people driven out of their homeland.
She also
finds Dhondup, an ex-monk on a fulfillment mission for his mother that Karma
joins in on. It becomes the impetus for
a deeper journey around there and within, as co-director Sonam’s screenplay has
a pace, energy, brightness, intelligence and subtle impact without illicit
appeals to pity or formulaic melodrama.
Considering most people here have had little acting experience, it works
remarkably well. For political reason, I
bet this was censored by certain “corners” in the U.S. and we’ll know more down
the line, but it is on DVD now and we highly recommend it.
The
letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image was shot in Super 16mm film by Ranjan Palit,
exposing a new side of a little-seen world in India, which is really a subworld
to some extent, yet it is a vital one.
This looks so good, I wish I could see this on film or even HD, but the
use of color is interesting and that helps overcome issues of depth, detail and
softness. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
has limited surrounds, with dialogue in both Tibetan and English language, but
is a recent recording and was a Dolby Digital release. Extras include filmmaker interviews,
director’s notes/bios, notes from Human Rights Watch, a fine making of
documentary and the short film rights… & wrongs. They are all worth your time, as is this
film, one of the best foreign releases of its year.
- Nicholas Sheffo
