Tibet - Cry of the Snow Lion
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DVD details
Actor: Edward Edwards, Shirley Knight Ed HarrisDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 104 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-12-14
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: New Yorker
DVD Reviews of Tibet - Cry of the Snow Lion
DVD Review: Interesting But Terribly One-Sided
Summary: 2 Stars
As a frequent visitor to the Himalayas and being closely in touch with both Tibetans (ordinary folks, not the tortured ones) and the Chinese, I find this documentary interesting but terribly one-sided.
A Nepalese friend of mine has this to say: "When they first came here as refugees, they were truly destitute. We pitied them and donated generously. Every time they cried "Free Tibet!", donations poured in from all over the world. Isn't it ironic that these former refugees now have more privileges and better opportunities than the average Nepalese? Do they really want to abandon their lucrative businesses here and go back? Or do they just want more support and donations? Free Tibet my foot."
Yes, I too have not met a single wealthy Tibetan in Nepal or India, who can swear to me that he will return to a freed Tibet, run by their government in exile. In fact, when Nepal was mired by the Maoist insurgency, some of them actually returned to Chinese-run Tibet. Money talks. There are greedy Chinese people, greedy Americans and greedy Tibetans as well.
To be fair to the "experts", a lot of the evidence of Chinese violence against the Tibetans is real. I sincerely feel sorry for them and wish that they could somehow be compensated. However, the documentary gets emotive and it seems bent on presenting the situation in Tibet entirely from the viewpoint of the activists and other victims of Chinese aggression.
While it is true that many Tibetans suffered and died during the invasion and subsequent crushing of riots that erupted from time to time, it is unfair to assume that the soldiers and police were the only ones responsible for the deaths and injuries. Were there no looters, vandals, infighting? Was Tibet not a feudal state where peasants had no rights and monks abused their authority? Tibetans in the documentary who claimed that everything was lovely before the Chinese invaded were simply not telling the whole truth.
It's also incredibly naive to assume that all Tibetans think the same. Even Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile is not without opposition, violence and even assasination. While I do think that most Tibetans are good Buddhists and nice people, the documentary seems to associate everything sinful with the Chinese and everything saintly with the Tibetans. This is something I find totally unacceptable. There are compassionate Tibetans. There are those who snatch torches from athletes on wheelchairs. There are violent Tibetans who loot and plunder, there are Han Chinese people who are good Tibetan Buddhists. The world isn't as simple as that depicted by the makers of this film.
A few snapshots of Tibetan mobs welcoming the delegates from exile tell us nothing. There are many times more enterprising Tibetans who are now very happy with the booming economy. The documentary seems only able to find Tibetans who are against Chinese rule. They paint the picture that nobody in Tibet is happy. This is patently untrue. But then, this sort of thing sells in America. You have to have a demon, you have to have a damsel in distress and you must have the hero (America in this case). Otherwise, it just won't sell. It's not about compassion at all.
If you really want to be "illuminated", visit Tibet and Tibetan communities all over China and see things for yourself. That would be far more enlightening. Sadly, many journalists prefer to interview the wrong (right?) people in order to get a sensational story that will pay for the rent.
Finally, you can YouTube "Eingma - Ji Siang San Bao". A Mongolian hit from Chinese-controlled Mongolia that dominated the airwaves in downtown Beijing. Check out Dicovery Channel's Mongolian Idol for the whole story. The Chinese government does have a policy of stamping out any violent protest by any means, but it no longer has the policy of systematically destroying minority cultures. Quite the opposite in fact.
Also check out video clips of the Olymnpic torch being brought up to the summit of Everest by Tibetan climbers. Real, current and conflicting footage showing the activists and experts to be the liars are far more abundant than those disputing what the Chinese authorities have said.
Sadly, most of the people who gravitate towards these pages are already sold on the simplistic Sharon Stone idea that the Chinese are evil and the Tibetans do nothing but suffer under them. The reviewer who says something negative not only has to write the review, he has to convince and convert a lot of brainwashed people that the film they like is not an accurate depiction of the reality on the ground. Nevertheless, democracy rules and the majority is right even when it is wrong.
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