Travellers & Magicians … no comments
This film by Kyentse Norbu arrived on Saturday in the mail so I had the opportunity to see it for the first time this weekend. The film is as much about the landscape of Rinpoche’s home country of Bhutan as it is about the feelings of entrapment and the desire for escape.
As the film moved along, and the characters came into play, I found myself within each one of them, able to relate to their point of view. The need to leave. The desire to stay. The sense of being lost. The perspective that travel gives. The storyteller, philosopher, monk. In the end it all works out.
Mystical journeys of spiritual discovery are set against the spectacular, evocative landscape of the remote kingdom of Bhutan in Travellers & Magicians Young government official Dondup dreams of escaping to America while stuck in a ravishingly beautiful but isolated village. But when he misses his bus to the city, Dondup is forced to hitchhike with an elderly apple seller, a sage young monk, an old man, and his beautiful daughter. Along the way, the mischievous monk tells Dondup a story of another young man who sought a land far away: a tale of lust, jealousy and murder that holds up a mirror to the restless Dondup and his blossoming attraction to the innocent young woman. – from the Product Description
You can find Travellers & Magicians in our DharmaShop. Look under Dharma on Film/DVD. The Special Features on the DVD are an interesting background story and a view into Rinpoche’s making of the film.