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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
TRAVELLERS & MAGICIANS
Following his 1999 directorial debut in The Cup, Khyentse Norbu's Travellers &
Magicians is the first feature film to be shot entirely in the mountainous Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan.
From a tiny village deep in the Himalayas, Dondup (Tshewang Dendup), a local government
official, yearns for a different kind of life. Dondup's resistance to his provincial village goes
beyond his "I Love NY" T-shirt and love of rock-and-roll. Fed up with the slow pace of the
village, he plots to escape to America. When he misses his only bus ride, Dondup resorts to hitch
hiking. He is soon joined by an aged apple seller, a Buddhist monk, a rice paper merchant and
his beautiful daughter, Sonam (Sonam Lhamo). Throughout the journey, the monk relates the tale
of Tashi, a restless apprentice magician whose lust causes him to lose his way. This fable forces
Dondup to take one last look at the decision he is about to make, but at the same time, Travellers
& Magicians also suggests that change is inevitable. Through this narrative structure
interspersing a story within a story, Norbu imparts a quiet meditation on the modernization of a
society.
Featuring a cast composed entirely of local Bhutanese, the performances shine with sincerity that only
non-professional actors can exude. Sonam Kinga is especially charming as the mischievous monk who provokes the
irascible Dondup with perceptive Buddhist axioms. For some, the slow-paced account may seem conventionally art
house and the moralistic parable of Tashi a mere cliché. Yet watching Travellers & Magicians is like taking the
journey through Bhutan with Dondup - as Dondup begins to realize just what he is leaving behind,
we too see what is missing in our culture. Travellers & Magicians will reward the viewer
with a refreshing sense of timelessness and the warmth of human connection. Marie Iida
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