Travellers & Magicians
by Khyentse Norbu
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Actor: Deki Yangzom, Lhakpa Dorji, Sonam Kinga, Sonam Lhamo, Tsewang DandupDirector: Khyentse Norbu
Cinematographer: Alan Kozlowski
Writer: Khyentse Norbu
Editor: Andrew McCormick
Editor: John Scott
Producer: Jeremy Thomas
Producer: Malcolm Watson
Producer: Raymond Steiner
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-10-25
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
DVD Reviews of Travellers & Magicians
DVD Review: Magical
Summary: 5 Stars
Travellers & Magicians is one of the best foreing films ever. The film goes beyond the "simple" cultural experience that we've come to expect from foreing films, as it reaches to our psyche and makes us ponder about our own life. Doldup's (the main character) quest for his "dreamland," turns out to be everyone's quest. This movie gently eases you to ponder about life as it blends east, west, Buddhism, humanitity, lust, and the natural beauty of a wonderfull land. A true masterpice. DVD Review: Youth's quest for novelties
Summary: 4 Stars
Probably, to those, especially, first time in their lives watching with this movie depicted Bhutan, both landscapes and locals, this film is an educative, broadening a general knowledge work reflecting filmmaker's uncertainty of whether he became better in the USA while still preferring writing the books and movie-scripts in America rather than in a native village.
Lovely Himalayan landscapes and funny scenes of contemporary Bhutanese customs very much sustain a very general story of generational change and youth's quest for novelties.
DVD Review: There's no place like home
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a beautiful film which also serves as a travelogue for Bhutan. The story is sweet with darker overtones that make it an adult fable with a moral as old as "The Wizard of Oz." A restless young Bhutanese man wants to go to America. He travels in ways he doesn't expect, and his fellow travellers give him insights into his own heart. The film feels a lot like Spanish magical realism, yet told from a Buddhist perspective. The story unfolds at a rather stately pace, so the viewer needs to relax into it and just enjoy this brief trip to Bhutan. DVD Review: Many miles to go, and promises to keep
Summary: 5 Stars
Beautiful and poignant. The protagonist has a good life, but is dissatisfied, and his peception of it's imperfect nature leads him to jump on any opportunity for something he believes will be better. After becoming obsessed with a particular place, which he believes to be paradise, he has the opportunity to go there, and begins his journey, only to discover how satisfying his life as it is can be. It's a pretty interesting message for us Westerners, as it runs counter to some of the fundamental assumptions of our society, such as the idea that life will always be inadequate, no matter how good it gets, and that we must always strive for better, no matter what the cost. DVD Review: Awesome, touching experience
Summary: 5 Stars
Having been to Bhutan last year, it was like going home to see this movie--the scenery, the Buddhist "walking talk" sort of wisdom, the simplicity and beauty of film making in such a setting. I was touched and highly recommend this film.
Description of Travellers & Magicians
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 (Tshewang Dendup) dreams of escaping to America while stuck in a ravishingly beautiful but isolated village. But when he misses his bus to the city (and an awaiting visa), Dondup is forced to hitchhike with an elderly apple seller, a sage young monk, an old man, and his beautiful daughter (Sonam Lhamo). 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. Directed by Khyentse Norbu (AKA Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, one of Himalayan Buddhism's most revered lamas who made his feature directing debut with the monks-who-soccer sleeper THE CUP), this critical and box-office hit magnificently intertwines twin love stories for an enchanting, unforgettable film that is filled with heart, hope and humor.It would be churlish, to say the least, to find fault with a movie written and directed by a revered Buddhist lama who's recognized as the reincarnation of a great Tibetan master. Fortunately, Kyentse Norbu's Travellers and Magicians is a lovely film that's easy to like. Norbu, who is actually from Bhutan, made a splash with his first effort, 1999's The Cup. Travellers and Magicians has a generally similar theme (the sometimes humorous, sometimes discomfiting collision of traditional and modern values and cultures), but a rather different story. This one concerns Dondup (Tsewang Dandup), a young government official who feels trapped in his Bhutanese village and yearns to answer the siren call of America, a place that represents Shangri-La for people who already live in Shangri-La (author James Hilton was said to have used Bhutan as a model for that utopian land in his novel Lost Horizon). After missing his bus to Thimphu, the nearest bigger town, Dondup falls in with a group of other travelers, including a lovely young woman and very garrulous monk. As they walk and hitchhike through the breathtaking Himalayan landscape, the monk spins a haunting tale that, though laced with adultery and murder, still has obvious parallels to Dondup's. The pace of the film is leisurely, clearly a reflection of Bhutanese life. The story is simple, the message--an "is the grass really greener?" fable--not especially subtle, the ending predictable. What's more, the actors, perhaps appropriately, are non-professionals. But those things somehow add to the pleasure of the film instead of detracting from it, and the direction, editing, and cinematography (especially the almost sepia-toned look of the monk's story sequences) are first-rate by any standards. Travellers and Magicians, with extras that include a "making of" featurette and behind-the-scenes location footage, is a keeper. --Sam Graham
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