Travelers and Magicians

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Audience Member An exceptionally convincing advertisement for Bhutan. Two incredibly anti-climactic stories. "Pleasant and often beautiful." "Refreshingly quiet and thoughtful." "It's a leisurely yet resonant film that reinforces the power of cinematic storytelling." "For Norbu, filmmaking has become his form of thangka painting" Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Excellent !! I love it. The mix between the recent and the past time it's marvellously done in that movie and make sense! The images are beautiful. I like Asiatic Characters.. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member S L O W!!!! Beautiful scenery...great wisdom tidbits....but very very S L O W Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member 'Travellers & Magicians' is a beautiful spiritual journey that every film lover has to take....:) Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member go, bhutanese cinema, go ** Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member "Travellers and Magicians" is a very charming import film. It's story may be mashed around a bit, but the ultimate message is something that can resonate with people of any race, religion or age. Dondup (Tshewang Dendup) is a newly appointed religious official in a remote village in Bhutan. Growing weary of, "nothing to do," as he proclaims, Dondup receives a letter from a friend informing him that he has arranged for a ticket to America. Dondup leaps on the idea and acts quickly to get out of his requirements and village. While walking to the bus, Dondup gets held up by one of the villagers and is delayed. Getting aggravated, he starts to sprint, but the bus leaves without him. Now wondering what the hell to do, Dondup sits by the side of the road and waits for cars to come by. A man carrying apples (Ap Dochu) sits next to Dondup and asks how the cars are. Since Dondup doesn't want a damn thing to do with people, he acts very cold and walks away. While sitting about a mile up the road, a monk (Sonam Kinga) walks up to Dondup and proceeds to sit next to him. Only wanting to simply pass the time while waiting for a car, the monk tries his best to speak with Dondup. Dondup makes some rude remarks and the monk understands that, being a man of importance, the monk would be given first rides. So the monk then walks down the path to the appleman and leaves Dondup. As night falls, Dondup begins to grow tired of doing nothing all day. The appleman and the monk start a fire to cook some food and invite Dondup down, even after his rude reception. Dondup swallows his pride and joins them. While eating, the monk asks Dondup where he is going, which Dondup responds with some abstract words. This leads the monk to re-tell a Buddhist teaching. The story follows Tashi (Lhakpa Dorji) and Karma (Namgay Dorjee), two brothers in a secluded village in Bhutan (much like Dondup's) who are very opposite of each other. Tashi dreams of far away places and women while Karma is highly intelligent and interested in magic. One day during their lunch, Karma mixes together a potion that sends Tashi on a fantasy trip. This trip takes Tashi to an even more remote village where he meets an old man and his wife, Deki (Deki Yangzom). This story leads to love, betrayal and some other interesting twists. The whole movie is a big metaphor or appreciation of life. While it's definitely vague in that regard, the film doesn't try to shove anything down your throat. It presents you with ideas, philosophies and people and then lets you piece together everything. It's a very non-linear approach to a storyline and it works well, though the beginning is a bit slow and is purely exposition. It's wonderful when you think about it. Is leaving the best thing for a person, or is embracing what they're given? You're left curious as to what Dondup will do with all of this. The acting is solid, if a bit sub-dued. Dendup gives a very convincing performance as Dondup. He seems distant and distracted until a certain character comes into the story later. Kinga as the monk is annoying in a certain respect, but mainly because his character is just very interested in everything around him. He's realistic and sincere, both qualities that a monk should have. Supporting characters include the Appleman and a few other travelers that Dondup encounters. They're all secondary, even if one character strikes Dondup's heart strings. They aren't given a lot of dialog, though, so it's hard to come to any conclusion about them. The people in the monk's story are the bulk of this tale and they certainly nail their parts. Dorji is very distant to everyone at first, but then becomes a bit of a menacing force. His actions overtake him and his facial expressions really drive home his inner-terror. Yangzom is attractive and deadly and she gives a quaint level of seriousness to her character. It's intriguing to no end. On a more technical level, the movie has fine direction and a good, if minimalist, soundtrack. Nothing holds the film back in any regard and when the music does pop up, it's very psychedelic. What is fantastic is the cinematography, though. Bhutan is an extremely beautiful country and it's a wonder why more movies haven't been shot there. When everything is said and done, seeing the characters part is incredibly hard. You may not know much about them, but you want to see their tales conclude and have closure. The monk sums up the whole movie well though. "A blossom is only beautiful because it is temporary." Amen to that. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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