The story-within-the-story of "Travellers and Magicians" is actually the most interesting part of the movie. This Tibetan drama uses a folktale or parable to impart its message about the simple pleasures in life, and it's the telling of that story that makes it watchable and worthwhile.
This sometimes too-slow-for-its-own-good film is also enlivened by shots of the beautiful Bhutanese scenery.
Unfortunately, it's stuck with a rather unappealing, self-centered main character. He's Dondup (Tshewang Dandup), a spoiled-rotten government employee who's bored by his new assignment in a remote Tibetan village.
Dondup, a devotee of American pop culture, wants nothing more than to chase skirts, so of course he takes the first opportunity to run away from his duties. However, he misses the bus to the big city and has to hitchhike his way there instead.
Along the way, he meets up with an elderly fruit seller (Ap Dochu), a father (Dasho Adab Sangye) and daughter (Sonam Lhamo), and a monk (Sonam Kinga) who seems amused by Dondup's impatience and petulance. So the monk decides to tell him a story about a similarly impetuous young man, Tashi (Lhakpa Dorji), who had a fateful encounter with an old man (Gomchen Penjore) and his much younger wife (Deki Yangzom).
This is definitely a more ambitious work than writer-director Khyentse Norbu's last film, 1999's "The Cup." But that film had a certain low-key charm. This one is a bit pricklier, and as played by Dandup, the main character is an irritant.
Still, you have to give Norbu credit for getting convincing performances from his mostly amateur cast. In particular, Kinga has a sly comic presence, and Yangzom is bewitching in the "story" portion of the film.
"Travellers and Magicians" is not rated but would probably receive a PG-13 for some brief scenes of violence (including violence against women), a brief sex scene and glimpses of a nude sculpture. Running time: 108 minutes.
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