Always Good Movies

Direction: Pawo Choyning Dorji
Country: Bhutan / other

From Pawo Choyning Dorji, the Bhutanese director of Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom (2019), comes The Monk and the Gun, a light comedy-drama set against the backdrop of Bhutan's first democratic election. This formerly isolated monarchic country, now encountering the internet and TV for the first time, serves as the setting for a story that piques our curiosity from the start.

Written by Dorji, the story pikes our curiosity about the intention of the village’s lama who, during his meditation retreat, asks his assistant monk (Tandin Wangchuk) to bring him two guns for a mysterious ceremony scheduled for the election day. As the debate between modernizing or maintaining traditions creates friction among villagers and disruption in families, an American gun collector (Harry Einhorn) arrives in town to buy a rare old rifle, with the local Benji (Tandin Sonam) acting as the mediator.

Whether seen it as an original moral tale or a modern fable, this well-tempered and didactic film remains engaging despite minor plot quibbles and occasional pacing issues. Painted with tenderness and a subtle yet delightful humor, this canvas also serves as an ode to Bhutan’s sublime landscape, celebrating pacifism and tolerance with inspiring simplicity and spiritual appeal.

The film’s peaceful, idyllic tones underscore its message of compassion and peace triumphing over suffering, hatred, and aggression. The Monk and the Gun offers a relaxing and deeply felt portrait of the Bhutanese people, with its educational value standing out as invaluable. Dorji’s perspective is bracing, and his film a serene experience.

Direction: Pawo Choyning Dorji
Country: Bhutan / China

Bhutanese screenwriter, photographer and director Pawo Choyning Dorji discovered the world of cinema in 2012 while working as an assistant on Khyentse Norbu's drama film Vara: A Blessing. He couldn’t have had a better first directorial experience with the Academy nominated drama, Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom. It stars Sherab Dorji as Ugyen Dorji, a slightly arrogant teacher from Thimphu whose dreams and vision of life change completely when he is assigned by the government to lecture in Lunana, the most remote village of Bhutan, located on the slopes of the Himalayas at more than 11,000 feet above the sea level.

Ugyen not only falls in love with a local singer, Sandon (Tshering Dorji), but is also moved by the joyous spirit and purity of soul of this small community of yak herders. If the story is simple and straightforward, then the process of making the film was extremely hard. A year of preparation was necessary, and the shooting took place during the two months of the year when it doesn’t snow. Moreover, no road leads to Lunana. The team took eight days to climb there with all the gear, including solar collectors and batteries.

This is a charming and thoroughly sweet movie that creates a desire in us to know more about this culture. It’s particularly worth seeing for the untouched nature of Bhutan (there’s no shortage of visual poetry in its richly observed local detail) as well as the honest depiction of the village life and the karmic connection established between hosts and guest. In terms of plot, on the other hand, it’s more than predictable what we see here, yet there's no lying or condescending from the director. He seems in love with these characters; and by the end, so is the audience.