Travelers and Magicians (subtitles)

The stories (there are at least three) take place in Bhutan, a small country in the Eastern Himalayan Mountains.  It's below Tibet (now part of China) and next to India and Nepal.  The venue is significant because it defines many important factors for the film.  The environment is mountainous, roads are dirt, transportation is problematic and life is primitive.  

The film provides us with a look at a very different culture, stories in the flavor of The Canterbury Tales, which contain lessons in life, entertainment at the pace of a slow meditation and a chance to see Bhutan's scenery.  It begins when Dondup, an official in a small village decides to quit his job and strike out for America, the land of opportunity.  He is joined in his travels by a man with apples, an old man and his daughter and a monk who tells stories. 

            This is very different from what we are used to seeing on the screen, but it is also quite interesting.  Like other Eastern films, it is filled with symbols and insinuated metaphors.  The action progresses slowly, leaving plenty of time during the film for contemplation.  It is the antithesis of the Western way, so those viewers expecting action, climax and resolution are going to be disappointed. 

            I was surprised at home much the scenery looked like our California Sierras and the roads looked like old mining roads.  This geographical area, Bhutan, was the model for the classic Lost Horizon (1937), which was based on the novel by James Hilton.

            Reviewed April 22, 2005

            Not Rated, but probably PG for the use of a hallucinogenic.