Himalaya

When Lhakpa, the young leader of a small village, is killed during a routine mountain journey, the village is thrown into upheaval. For in the mountainous Dolpo region of the Nepal Himalaya, the survival of a village hinges on the ability of its yak caravans to negotiate the long, arduous and dangerous journey to the lowlands to trade. Suspecting foul play, Lhakpa’s father and veteran village chief Tinle (Thinlen Lhondup) accuses his son’s best friend Karma (Gurgon Kyap) of orchestrating the tragedy. The problem is that the last caravan of the year must leave immediately on the long trip to barter salt for grain; grain that the village desperately needs to see out the fierce winter. And Karma, the most experienced of the village's young men, is the logical choice to lead it.

Fearing a shift in his family’s power base within the village, Tinle insists that he shall lead the caravan as of old, taking with him his young grandson and heir-apparent Tsering (Karma Wangiel). But Karma, a proud yet impetuous young man with no respect for the ancient ways, has the support of the younger generation and decides to leave immediately; leading in a caravan all those that will follow.

But the stubborn Tinle, despite being clearly too old for the rigours of the mountains, leads the rest of the villagers (primarily the older members) in a second caravan; helped by his second son and lama Norbou (Karma Tenzing Nyima Lama), and daughter-in-law Pema (Lhakpa Tsamchoe). Although Karma has a four-day head start, Tinle is determined to outpace him, and proposes a shortcut via an infamous and perilous mountain path.

Conceived and directed by Eric Valli, a photographer and writer who has lived in Nepal for many years, Himalaya is a breathtaking portrait of a dying way of life. Seeking to preserve and document this unique culture rather than make any kind of political statement, Valli has weaved fact and fiction to create a poetic tale of pride and endurance that is part comedy, part tragedy, and part superb dramatic thriller. Although part of the Valli’s motivation may have been documentary, this is a film proper, and a well-crafted and entertaining one to boot. Your heart is certainly in your mouth as Tinle guides his rag tag band along a treacherous and crumbling mountain path that winds its way across a yawning precipice!

The cast, drawn exclusively from the inhabitants of the region (some of whom had never seen a camera before), are the real-deal; weatherworn Nepalese villagers who have lived the hard Himilayan life. Of course the real star of the show is the absolutely breathtaking scenery. Filmed on location in the Dolpo at altitudes of over 5,000 metres, it's a spectacle that really does need to be seen to be believed, and one that has been captured beautifully by Valli’s discerning eye.

In short, Himilaya is a wonderfully entertaining film, set in a breathtaking location, and featuring interesting and authentic characters. Oh and yaks. Plenty of yaks.

For many months I resisted purchasing Himilaya for the simple reason that it was produced by Magna Pacific; a distributor whose track record, at least in my experience, was less than exemplary. I could not have been more surprised, therefore, when the stunning anamorphic transfer that is Himilaya finally greeted my eyes. This is an absolutely wonderful transfer from Magna and equal to anything being released in this region at the moment. Drawn from a super-clean print, the image is stunningly sharp, amazingly detailed, richly coloured and a perfect compliment to Valli’s spectacular cinematography. I could write paragraphs of more superlatives telling you that this is great and that is great, but at the end of the day there really is essentially nothing to fault this transfer.

The only negative you could point to is the burnt-in English subtitles. If you speak Tibetan then this will certainly disappoint you, and if you don’t read English, then you’ll have to think about releases in other regions. But for everyone else, this transfer will most certainly impress; Himalaya is the kind of film that the term 'visual feast' was coined to describe.

Only a single audio track is shipped with Magna’s release; a Dolby Digital 2.0 mix of the original Tibetan soundtrack. Providing no surround or subwoofer activity, the audio is dialogue-centric with only a minimalist (yet perfectly suited) score and a collection of location sounds (yaks, wind, more yaks) to fill in the gaps. Importantly, the dialogue is continually clear and distinct, and lip-sync is not an issue. All in all it's a serviceable enough audio track that, whilst letting several opportunities for a dynamic surround channel go begging, represents a serviceable compliment to the film.

Whilst Magna’s budget has not stretched to some of the more interesting extra material that shipped with the region 2 release, they have come up with a couple of interesting inclusions that are accessed from a set of pleasing anamorphic menus.

• Theatrical Trailer: The obligatory inclusion does no justice to the film itself. A poor transfer from poorer source material.

• Synopsis: Four pages recounting the plot of Himalaya. If you've seen the movie, it's all a little redundant.

• Cast and Crew Biographies: Part character profile and part biography, some text pages introduce each of the actors/characters; discussing their particular life experiences and their suitability for the project.

Himalaya is one of those surprise sleeper titles that you happen upon every once in a while that unexpectedly blows your mind. Visually stunning, it is a touching and at times suspense-filled drama set in one of the most magnificent regions on Earth. With a crisp and clean widescreen image from Magna Pacific, it looks totally stunning on DVD and I urge you to get a hold of it and give it a spin; even as a rental. I guarantee that for many of you it will quickly become as much as much a loved part of your collection as it has for me. Highly recommended!