One of this year's Oscar nominees for best
foreign-language film, Himalaya is at
its heart a fairly standard yarn about
learning respect for age and experience and
the wisdom that they bring. Set in
pre-Chinese-occupation Tibet (although shot
in Nepal), the story revolves around the
conflict between the village's chief, Tinle
(Thinlen Lhondup), and young upstart Karma
(Gurgon Kyap); they butt heads over when to
depart on the annual caravan south to trade
salt for grain. Tinle blames Karma for the
death of his eldest son on a previous caravan
and stubbornly refuses to cooperate with him.
Karma, frustrated by Tinle's obstinacy,
departs early with the bulk of the village's
men, yaks and salt. Tinle must then somehow
make the arduous and harrowing journey with
the ragtag, elderly group that stays loyal to
him. Director Eric Valli uses the stunning
beauty and strength of the mountains
themselves (as captured by cinematographer
Jean-Paul Merrisse) as a metaphor for the
indomitable will of Tinle. The film is worth
seeing for the visual majesty of the setting
alone, especially if you're a gearhead
mountain-groupie of the sort that keeps Jon
Krakauer rolling in dough. But for once, we
get the Sherpa's story. In Himalaya,
these incredibly hardy folk are well-rendered
and interesting characters, not simply pack
mules for Everest-climbing honkys. Thank the
Buddha for that.