Himalaya (film)
Encyclopedia
Himalaya , also known as Himalaya - l'enfance d'un chef and as Caravan, is a 1999
Nepal
ese movie directed by Eric Valli
and was funded through France
-based corporations. It was the first Nepal
ese film to be nominated in the Best Foreign Film
category at the 72nd Academy Awards
.
Himalaya is a story set against the backdrop of the Nepalese Himalayas
. At an altitude of five thousand metres in the remote mountain region of Dolpo
, Himalaya is the story of villagers who take a caravan of yaks across the mountains, carrying rock salt
from the high plateau down to the lowlands to trade for grain. An annual event, the caravan provides the grain that the villagers depend on to survive the winter. The film unfolds as a story of rivalry based on misunderstanding and distrust, between the aging chief and the young daring herdsman, who is both a friend and a rival to the chief's family, as they struggle for leadership of the caravan.
The film is a narrative on the both traditions and the impermanent nature of human struggle to retain and express power in the face of the gods. "The gods triumph" is the call that echoes at the end of the film and expresses the balancing of karmic destinies. The extreme environment of the Himalayas is magnificently contrasted to the delicacy of humanity and the beauty of Tibetan culture.
Himalaya was shot in widescreen over nine months on location in a region that can only be reached on foot, with all but two characters played by real chiefs, lama
s and local villagers. Director Eric Valli has lived in Nepal since 1983 and is also a photographer and author. His work is regularly published in National Geographic
, GEO
and Life
magazines.
The film depicts not only the life style of the Dolpo-pa
people on the Tibetan Plateau
but also their traditional customs, for example celestial burial.
1999 in film
The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
ese movie directed by Eric Valli
Eric Valli
Éric Valli is a French photographer and film director.Valli spent most of his career as a geographical photographer working for the National Geographic Magazine and The Sunday Times capturing more inaccessible locations in the world on camera...
and was funded through France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-based corporations. It was the first Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
ese film to be nominated in the Best Foreign Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
category at the 72nd Academy Awards
72nd Academy Awards
The 72nd Academy Awards ceremony took place at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, and was Billy Crystal's seventh time hosting the Awards. The ceremony attracted 46.53 million viewers, an audience 3.7% bigger than the previous ceremony.The Academy Awards ceremony was dominated by two films...
.
Himalaya is a story set against the backdrop of the Nepalese Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
. At an altitude of five thousand metres in the remote mountain region of Dolpo
Dolpo
Dolpo is a high-altitude culturally Tibetan region in the upper part of the Dolpa District of western Nepal, bordered in the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Part of the region lies in Shey Phoksundo National Park...
, Himalaya is the story of villagers who take a caravan of yaks across the mountains, carrying rock salt
Himalayan salt
Himalayan salt is a marketing term for Halite from Pakistan, which began being sold by various companies in Europe, North America, and Australia in the early 21st century...
from the high plateau down to the lowlands to trade for grain. An annual event, the caravan provides the grain that the villagers depend on to survive the winter. The film unfolds as a story of rivalry based on misunderstanding and distrust, between the aging chief and the young daring herdsman, who is both a friend and a rival to the chief's family, as they struggle for leadership of the caravan.
The film is a narrative on the both traditions and the impermanent nature of human struggle to retain and express power in the face of the gods. "The gods triumph" is the call that echoes at the end of the film and expresses the balancing of karmic destinies. The extreme environment of the Himalayas is magnificently contrasted to the delicacy of humanity and the beauty of Tibetan culture.
Himalaya was shot in widescreen over nine months on location in a region that can only be reached on foot, with all but two characters played by real chiefs, lama
Lama
Lama is a title for a Tibetan teacher of the Dharma. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru .Historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries...
s and local villagers. Director Eric Valli has lived in Nepal since 1983 and is also a photographer and author. His work is regularly published in National Geographic
National Geographic Magazine
National Geographic, formerly the National Geographic Magazine, is the official journal of the National Geographic Society. It published its first issue in 1888, just nine months after the Society itself was founded...
, GEO
GEO (magazine)
GEO is a family of educational monthly magazines similar to the National Geographic magazine. It is known for its profound reports, which are accompanied by opulent pictures.The first edition appeared in Germany in 1976...
and Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazines.
The film depicts not only the life style of the Dolpo-pa
Dolpo
Dolpo is a high-altitude culturally Tibetan region in the upper part of the Dolpa District of western Nepal, bordered in the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Part of the region lies in Shey Phoksundo National Park...
people on the Tibetan Plateau
Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau , also known as the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is a vast, elevated plateau in Central Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai, in addition to smaller portions of western Sichuan, southwestern Gansu, and northern Yunnan in Western China and Ladakh in...
but also their traditional customs, for example celestial burial.