| The Cup |
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| Rating: Good Distributor: Fine Line Features Running Time: 1 hour, 34 minutes U.S. Release Date: 2/18/00 Rating: PG Genre: Foreign Comedy In Bhutanese with subtitles Director: Khyentse Norbu Cast: Jamang Lodro, Neten Chokling, Laman Chonjor, and Orgyen Tobygal. |
| Plot: In a Tibetan monastry some young rebelious teenage monks sneak out every night to watch the 1998 World Cup soccer games. They are eventually caught and forced to serve hours in the kitchen. Meanwhile, two new boys are trying to fit in and hold on to memories of their mother whom they had to leave and come to join the monastery as they lived under dangerous times. The younger boy has a watch which he keeps as a sacred memory of his mother. The rebellious teenage monks need these two new boys so that they can watch the final World Cup game. |
| Critique: This sweat light hearted fable moves very slowly, but finds a way to succeed nontheless. It is filled with a lot of fun moderately smart humor and a quietly moving storyline. It is very well directed and performed which is surprising because none of the actors are professionals, and as far as I know the director isn't either. It has so much vibrant wit that if you have a good attention span it should keep you entertained. Some scenes are very intimate and unique, like when the young boy who is devoted to his soccer decides to find a way to help get the new child his watch back and the the older monk eases his worries by softly putting his hand on the soccer boy's head. Another unique scene is when all the teenage monks are playing soccer together and they laugh and have a good time, while most of them have full red robes. Lastly, a scene that pops into my head again and again is when the elderly monk asks the middle age monk why the boys enjoy men fighting for a ball, and asks if there is violence or sex involved. When the monk says no, the old man says it is ok then. I highly recommend this movie, but it isn't for the easily bored, and it requires a certain level of patience. For those who fit into that category, go see this movie whenever you can, and you will be rewarded with a kind little tale with wise comments about humanity. supernothingman |