‘Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom’ review: Feel-good Bhutanese drama

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Landlocked between China and India, the dominion of Bhutan measures its progress not on materials good points however on the gross nationwide happiness, an idea by which the federal government claims to prioritize the well-being of its residents above all else. That utopian philosophy permeates first-time director Pawo Choyning Dorji’s “Lunana: A Yak within the Classroom,” the nation’s second ever Oscar entry for worldwide function movie.

A basic inspirational yarn of a metropolis dweller studying to treasure the joyous simplicity of pastoral lifes, the heart-melting drama follows younger trainer Ugyen (Sherab Dorji), who desires of migrating to Australia to pursue a singing profession.

Pressured to trek to the far-flung Himalayan city of Lunana (inhabitants: 56) to instruct the native kids on the world’s remotest faculty, he encounters a welcoming group with no trendy comforts however the place nationwide pleasure prospers and educators are revered as a result of they “contact the longer term” of the nation.

Towards the backdrop of cinematographer Jigme Tenzing’s vibrant mountainous vistas, shot with a extreme diploma of problem on this surroundings with no important city utilities, the familiarity of the premise is made anew within the specificity of the customer’s tradition shock: imparting English classes to children who’ve by no means seen an vehicle or used a toothbrush.

Dealing with the mountains with a potential love curiosity, Ugyen chants a conventional music honoring the furry yaks — creatures beloved for his or her milk, meat and even their flammable excrement — in an occasion that suffuses the image with a sacred vitality.

Although one would possibly assume solely the supporting villager components, together with that of vivacious woman Pem Zam, are performed by innately proficient neophytes underneath auspicious instructions, Dorji himself is a first-timer impressing with the nuance of his heart-on-his-sleeve appearing. By way of the collective down-to-earth temperament of the solid, the film will get away with utter sincerity.

Opening the doorways to a land and other people most Westerners know little about, the director crafts a crowd-pleaser in beautiful, largely unseen places whose charms climate even its most idealistically patriotic and overly saccharine notes. Nevertheless far Ugyen goes, no tune will ever be extra enchanting than the one which rests in “the world’s happiest nation.”