70
Variety by Robert Koehler
A sensitive if literal-minded tale that demonstrates how Tibet's national identity is of a piece with its spiritual heart.
Dreaming Lhasa
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- United Kingdom,
- India
- 2007
- · 90m
Directors
Ritu Sarin,
Tenzing Sonam
Cast
Tenzin Gyatso,
Tenzin Jigme,
Jampa Kalsang Tamang
Genre
Drama,
Romance
Karma, a Tibetan filmmaker from New York, goes to Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama's exile headquarters in northern India, to make a documentary about former political prisoners who have escaped from Tibet. She wants to reconnect with her roots but is also escaping a deteriorating relationship back home.One of Karma's interviewees is Dhondup, an enigmatic ex-monk who has just escaped from Tibet. He confides in her that his real reason for coming to India is to fulfill his dying mother's last wish, to deliver a charm box to a long-missing resistance fighter. Karma finds herself unwittingly falling in love with Dhondup even as she is sucked into the passion of his quest, which becomes a journey into Tibet's fractured past and a voyage of self-discovery
Stream Dreaming Lhasa
What are critics saying?
63
Boston Globe by Ty Burr
It's a Tibetan film -- a rare thing -- made by Tibetans, starring Tibetans, and set in the increasingly desperate exile community of Dharamsala .
50
Village Voice
Primped for easy American consumption, this clunkily performed and staged drama concerns a filmmaker's agenda to document Tibetan oppression under Chinese occupation. This becomes spurious pretext for a rather flat Nancy Drew adventure.
50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Bill White
The script is undone by confusing romantic developments, a convoluted murder mystery and a facile and maudlin resolution.
50
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
A static and awkward effort that never quite comes to life.
50
The New York Times
A fine example of how feature films can be used to deliver urgent political messages, but as drama, it doesn’t quite work.
20
Film Threat by Phil Hall
A minor and forgettable bore.
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