Most Bhutanese are familiar with the story of Milarepa, the 11th century Buddhist mystical saint, whose life story is one of persecution, hatred, revenge and enlightenment.
Milarepa, the debut feature film of Neten Chokling Rinpoche, which was screened at the Royal Institute of Management auditorium on Monday, depicts cinematically this story of the futility and emptiness of hatred and vengeance. It is the first episode of Jetsun Milarepa’s biography with part II scheduled to come out in 2009.
The film is a Buddhist teaching, most relevant to our daily lives.
Milarepa begins with the joyous birth of Thopaga into a rich merchant family. But Thopaga, who would become Milarepa, is suddenly thrust into poverty through envy, lies and deceit by his uncle and aunt after his father passes away.
The uncle and aunt subject Milarepa and his mother, Kargyen (Kelsang Chukie Tethtong), to a kind of slavery and near-starvation. Kargyen plots her revenge and sends her son to study with the master sorcerer Yongten Trogyel (Orgyen Tobgyal) to avenge her oppressors. Milarepa sets out to find his future master, with no good intentions.
Thopaga masters the black arts and wreaks the destruction his mother so desires, but the bloodshed troubles his soul. Thopaga then seeks refuge in a Buddhist temple, where an old monk teaches him to “cease negative actions, cultivate positive actions and tame your mind�.
Chockling Rinpoche, who acted in Khyentse Norbu’s “The Cup,� and assisted in the making of Bernardo Bertolucci’s Little Buddha, shot Milarepa in the Spiti valley on the Indian-Tibetan border. The rugged terrain and awesome landscape closely reflect 11th century Tibet.
The mythic quality, blended with breathtaking scenery, the music and slow camera movements, all help bring authenticity to the movie’s theme.
The second part, Path to Liberation, will be released by 2009, according to Tashi Choedon Gyari (Thopaga’s girlfriend Zesay), who introduced the movie on November 19.
Bhutanese filmmakers lauded the cinematography and the visual and graphic effects, but others said that the pace of the movie did not keep up with the exotic shots or scenes, which were given more importance than other aspects of the movie.
“I don’t think the movie was able to capture the greatness of his (Milarepa) personality,� said a student of Webster University, Thailand, who wrote a paper on Milarepa. “Thopaga looked quite immature and unprepared at times for a character of this calibre.� Source: Kuenselonline
