Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
A family drama from Bhutan about a teacher in a remote Himalayan community is a remarkably assured debut.
There are audiences who resist any film not in English but, if one allows for that, it is easy to believe that this subtitled first feature from the writer/director Pawo Choyning Dorji can be considered a real crowd pleaser. Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom is a film made in Bhutan with much of it taking place in the remote Himalayan village of Lunana. It's a location which enables the film’s photographer, Jigme T. Tenzing, to come up with fine wide screen images of the landscape and that's a bonus in itself. But, if the opportunity to see this unfamiliar part of the world on the screen is an asset, the principal appeal of the film for a wider audience will lie in the story that it tells and which has at its centre a young teacher named Ugyen Dorji played by the well-cast Sherab Dorji.
The film’s opening scenes explain that Ugyen is in the fourth year of mandatory government service with one year still to go. Required to act as a teacher, he has found his work uncongenial and is desirous of leaving Bhutan in the hope of visiting Australia and perhaps developing there a career as a pop singer. However, on expressing his feelings to the educational secretary (Dorji Om), he is firmly reminded that he is bound to continue for another year. Furthermore, he is put in his place by being ordered to travel to Lunana which is considered the most remote post of all and which is in need of a replacement teacher in its community school. It's a totally out of the way setting with no electricity, but he is expected to carry out this duty until the conditions become such that the school closes for the winter.
The first third of the film follows through by showing Ugyen en route concluding with a seven day walk with two escorts to guide him, Michen (Ugyen Norbu Lhendup) and Singye (Tsthering Dorji). Thereafter the emphasis is on Lunana, its head man (Kunzang Wangdi) and the young pupils in the school headed by a nine-year-old girl played by Pem Zam. Also prominent in the village is Saldon, a female herder played by Kelden Lhamo Gurung who teaches Ugyen some local songs.
The film’s portrayal of the journey to Lunana is particularly adroit in its editing by Ku Hsiao-Yun which keeps on the move while devoting just the right amount of time to the places en route and to the people encountered. Once we reach Lunana, audiences that favour fast-moving films may have to adjust somewhat to the pacing as the film reflects daily life both inside and outside of the classroom. However, this part of the movie adds to the impression of it being a crowd pleaser containing as it does elements we associate with feel-good movies. The location may be authentic in every sense, but the film is well aware of the appeal of young Pem Zam and all of the school children are eager to be educated and always well behaved. There is too a hint of a possible romance that could develop between Ugyen and Saldon. But it is all nicely played and, if the story is calculated for popular appeal, it is on that level well-judged and effectively cast. As it happens, the one occasion that finds the film departing from what one is expecting may be the only example of it causing a touch of disappointment for some viewers.
However, we have to go all the way back to 1999 and The Cup for a film from Bhutan that gained release in the UK and that adds novelty value to Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom. But this film is not dependent on that for its appeal. It knows exactly what it wants to do, does it with remarkable assurance for a first feature and will give much pleasure.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Sherab Dorji, Ugyen Norbu Lhendup, Kelden Lhamo Gurung, Pem Zam, Kunzang Wangdi, Tshering Dorji, Sonam Tashi, Jigme Thinley, Tsheri Zom, Sangay Lham, Tashi Dema, Dophu, Rinchen Lhaden, Chimi Dem, Dorji Om.
Dir Pawo Choyning Dorji, Pro Pawo Choyning Dorji, Steven Xiang, Stephanie Lai and Honglin Jia, Screenplay Pawo Choyning Dorji, Ph Jigme T. Tenzing, Pro Des Tshering Dorji, Ed Ku Hsiao-Yun, Music Hu Shuai, Costumes Jigme Thinley and Tashi Tsering.
Dangphu Dingphu: A 3 Pigs Production/Huanxi Media Group-Peccadillo Pictures.
110 mins. Bhutan/China. 2019. US Rel: 21 January 2022. UK Rel: 10 March 2023. Cert. PG.
