In Cinemas Thursday 2nd June
Palace Nova East End
Rated PG
(Reviewed by John Glennie)
A delightful heart-warming movie set in some incredibly beautiful country!
Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) is a Bhutanese trainee teacher, living with his grandmother, but his dream is to move to Australia to become a singer. When his superiors learn of his plan to cut-short his studies, as punishment he is exiled to the most remote school in the world – located in the tiny village of Lunana.
He takes the long bus trip from Thimphu to a little town called Gasa (screen displayed population 448, altitude 2800m) where he was met by Michen. Next morning they head off for an eight day trek to Lunana along with two others from the village. Ugyen is told it is an easy walk along the river for 6 days then a small climb. He is angry when it turns out to be almost constant climbing. They eventually reach Koina (population 3, altitude 3100m!). The next few nights are spent in tents until they reach Karchung La Pass (altitude 5240m) where the locals stop to make offerings for safe passage. Ugyen ignores this tradition and is keen to move on. They are eventually met by the entire village about 2 hours away from Lunana where he is offered a welcoming tea ceremony.
He eventually arrives in Lunana (population 56, altitude 4800m) to discover a building with no electricity, no textbooks or blackboard. He tells the local leader Asha Jinpa (Kunzang Wangdi) and Michen that he wants to quit and go home – which saddens them greatly.
He soon learns of the daily hardships his young pupils face, and after hearing of the aspirations of the children – especially young Kencho who also wants to be a teacher “because a teacher touches the future”, Ungyen starts to soften his attitude. The head student is the adorable Pem Zam who helps their teacher get acquainted to local customs. Ungyen is intrigued when he hears the angelic voice of Saldon singing a local songe called Yak Lebi Lhadar, and wants to learn about the song.
Ungyen is stunned to walk into the classroom one morning to find Saldon there with a yak (called Norbu)! She has given it to him to provide him with plenty of dung for heating his cabin, but stipulates that the yak must remain indoors in the classroom (I shudder to think what it smelt like!). He is also fascinated to learn more of their amazing spiritual strength of the villagers.
Anyway, best not to divulge any more about the story. I really loved this movie and the stunning scenery.
TRIVIA
Shot on location in one of the most remote villages in the world where many members of the cast have never ventured outside, or even seen a movie before.
I have hiked to an altitude of 4200m where the air is very thin and it is hard to breathe. I can empathise with Ugyen when he was gasping for air when they reached the pass at 5240 metres. He would have acclimatised to Lunana at a mere 4800 metres, but it made me aware of how the locals had adapted to permanent life at such altitude.
I looked on Google maps for Lunana and switched to satellite mode and, wow, you really get a feeling of the rugged and harsh environment. The school was even highlighted separately and, yes, the school in the movie is the actual school of Lunana!
Please go and watch this film, I am quite sure you will not be disappointed!
No Comments