No. 107 (2022) LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM Dec. 24th.

 

Film No. 106 (2022)  December 24th.  8:00  PM SOMERVILLE Outdoor U.W.A.                        

"Maybe you were a Yak in your previous life. Yaks are so beneficial to us" (Lunana's town leader expresses his gratitude in his own way to Uygen, the new teacher).

Nominee : Best Foreign Feature Film (Pawo Choyning Dorji; Bhutan); Academy Awards 2022.

Fresh from a recent viewing of STARS AT NOON, I sat in the beautiful outdoors (Somerville Cinema, West Australia) to watch LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM. STARS took me to Nicaragua, giving a unique perspective of a sweaty, corrupt hot-house. LUNANA took me to Bhutan (The most remote regions of Bhutan). These are places I'm not likely to get to in this life. It reminded me of why film is so invigorating for the mind. Now for the tale that is LUNANA: YAK!

It's not the best version of the Teacher Tale genre. STAND AND DELIVER or DEAD POETS SOCIETY are better examples, but LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM gives us an intriguing version of a teacher learning more about themselves, through circumstance and forced decision making. Its a tale told in four acts; The Decision, The Journey, The Enlightenment and The Reflection/Conclusion. And while the storyline is convenient and predictable, the interaction with the environment and the people make for its most memorable scenes.

So, I assume you know all about the Teacher Genre. Here we meet Ugyen (Sherab Dorji) at a cross-roads in his life. He teaches in a large school in Bhutan's capital, Thimphu; pop 120,000 approx. His life ambition is to sing in a bar in Sydney, Australia. But he still has a year to run on his contract. He's become lazy in his profession and the authorities use their power to send him to remote LUNANA for the summer. The children there have no teacher. We soon learn why. Chapter Two, The Journey is by far and away the best chapter, as we gain great insight into the realities of like for the people of Bhutan. The seriously good people we meet during this 8 day trek has us willing Ugyen to ditch the wireless head-phones stuck to his ears and drink in all that is around him. Of course all of that happens. It's a pity that the power of The Journey is never reached or surpassed by the other chapters.

I do need to mention the other star of LUNANA; no not the Yak; it is Pem Zam, the cutest of cute little girls, playing herself. She is the barometer of Ugyen's emotional growth. Pem is a little girl who lives with her grandmother, she has an insatiable thirst for knowledge and an ability to keep all those around her on their toes, and to melt the hearts' of audience members. The revelations relating to Pem in the film are also true for her in real life. She is a local, and director Pawo has found a diamond in the wilds of Bhutan! 9GUMS.