22/02/2024 - BERLINALE 2024: Min Bahadur Bham delivers a film of great romantic and mystical purity following in the wake of a woman overcoming adversity in the heart of the Himalayas

Thinley Lhamo in Shambhala

"Do a little bit of magic". Immense mountains, a waterfall, a horseback ride, wolves, a stone engraving, a ritual archery trial and a woman in a white dress by the side of a lake. A busy itinerary and an awe-inspiring journey are promised by the drawings illustrating the opening credits of Shambhala [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the remarkable second feature film by Min Bahadur Bham (discovered in Venice’s Critics’ Week in 2015 via The Black Hen [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), which was presented in competition at the 74th Berlinale.

Directly inspired (though this is never made clear in the film) by a famous Hindu-Buddhist myth about an ideal kingdom accessible only to a select few, which has inspired many re-readings (including Helena Blavatsky’s in The Secret Doctrine and Thomas Pynchon’s in Against the Day), Shambhala proves to be a captivating and profound work, at once a deep-dive into a frugal yet highly ritualised village existence, a great journey through desert-like, spectacular scenery, and a spiritual experience in action, all exploring the crystal clear themes of love, the search for happiness and the indignities with which human beings often contend and are forced to overcome in order to free themselves and be reborn.

"At last, this house is alive." The three brothers composed of Tashi (Tenzin Dalha), monk Karma (Sonam Topden) and the very young Dawa (Karma Wangyal Gurung) are thrilled about their marriage (polyandry is a local tradition, but it’s actually only the former who consummates the union) to loving Pema (Thinley Lhamo) who comes from another village. Karma swiftly returns to his monastery under the aegis of his master Rimpoche (Loten Namling), while Tashi (who is gloriously happy with Pema) sets off for a few months with a caravan of yaks to barter in Lhassa. Pema feels a little melancholy, left alone with turbulent Dawa, but she becomes pregnant soon afterwards, leaving the village suspecting her of canoodling with teacher Ram Sir (Karma Shakya). The rumour reaches Tashi on the road home, and he disappears ("he’s ashamed to look people in the eye") near the Nangpa La pass. Pema decides to go looking for him and sets out on her horse, Namkha, on a very arduous journey, exploring rocky valleys and climbing snowy peaks, accompanied by Karma whom Rimpoche has instructed to look out for Pema and her child. What follows is a veritable saga where emotions and misadventures flow thick and fast…

A magnificent portrait of a woman determined to shoulder her responsibilities, Shambhala is a work of great sensitivity which is highly suggestive beneath its striking and “exotic” cultural attire (consisting of prayer wheels, flutes, songs, symbolic and prophetic dreams, a ritual death ceremony, an archery-based test of truth, Sarangi guitar, scenery of stupefying beauty and nights out under the stars, etc.). Poetic and physical, luminous and cryptic, romantic and subtly initiatory, the film unfolds with perfect harmony (barring a few handy little plot resolutions which don’t detract in the slightest from the audience’s pleasure), striking a balance between substance ("a birth is always a miracle in itself") and form (along the lines of a Nepalese reincarnation of David Lean) which allows Min Bahadur Bham to carve his name in stone alongside other accomplished filmmakers.

Produced by Nepal’s Shooney Films together with CDP (France), Ape&Bjørn (Norway), Aaru Production (Hong Kong), ZK Films (Turkey), Yi Tiao Long Hu Bao (Taiwan) and Bangdel & Shakya Production (USA), Shambhala is sold worldwide by Best Friend Forever.

(Translated from French)

Photogallery 23/02/2024: Berlinale 2024 - Shambhala

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Min Bahadur Bham, Thinley Lhamo, Sonam Topden, Tsering Lhamo Gurung, Aziz Zhambakiyev, Tenzin Dalha
© 2024 Dario Caruso for Cineuropa - dario-caruso.fr, @studio.photo.dar, Dario Caruso