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Tibet, which has always been isolated by being located high in the Himalayas, is visited in this documentary by an Indian mountain climber who was part of a team that once climbed Mt. Everest. Approaching Tibet by way of the highest road on earth, the caravan of jeeps passes through scenery that is both forbidding and spectacular. Along the side of the road, a Buddhist pilgrim does full-body prostrations as he slowly makes his way toward a holy site. The unique nature of Tibet, where a society based on Buddhist concepts of compassion and devotion flourished for centuries, is illustrated by vintage films shot by visitors decades before the Chinese invasion of the 1950s. The narration cogently notes that the old color films of Buddhist pageants conducted in Lhasa, depicting hundreds of colorfully attired monks and pilgrims, are the last look at an ancient society. The footage shot in the 1980s, when the Chinese had relaxed the borders of Tibet and allowed westerners to film, including scenes of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the traditional home of the Dalai Lama, is often fascinating. But contrast across the decades shows modern Tibet to be a deeply troubled land under Chinese rule, with its ancient culture and traditions slowly being erased.
--Robert J. McNamara
