Himalaya. Kino Studio.

This is an age old tale set in an ancient village in the Himalaya. The old village chief insists on waiting to take a yak caravan over the mountain on the specific date given by the oracles. A young whippersnapper, Karma, who would like to take over the Chief's role sooner rather than later, insists on leaving immediately before the weather turns foul. Both are stubborn, insistent and unmoving in their decision of when to leave. Both can't be correct or can they? This is a contest between each man and the mountain and everyone wins, because "there are no accidents". A breathtaking film cinematically and one that echoes the spirituality of the Tibetan people. Bruno Coulais' soundtrack for this film is absolutely perfect. Eric Valli's direction is amazing considering the cast are not actors. This movie will stay with you for a very long time. This is a movie, but it also pays very close attention to the life of the Dolpo-pa people, and as such, it not only presents a story, but captures a "culture in time" that few of us will ever experience. We may walk through these people's villages, or hire them to carry our gear, but we never can participate in their personal lives. Eric Valli, whatever his ulterior motives in creating this film (if any), had to have been driven by a love of the people and mountains to put this together. In an era of globalization and the loss of cultures and languages every year, films of this kind have great anthropological and human geographical value. It's too bad that more Eric Valli's don't exist to preserve our vanishing human heritage. When presented as a story, it can reach a much wider audience than a standard documentary; the story pulls the viewer into the lifestyle.