Life as Cinema by Anika Tokarchuk is a 56-minute documentary about the making of The Cup (1999) (高山上的足球盃), the debut feature film of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche (aka Khyentse Norbu).
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, a spiritual director of several Buddhist colleges in India, Bhutan and Sikkim, is recognized in his culture as the third incarnation of the Khyentse lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Life as Cinema voices his Buddhist reflections on the impermanence of life.
PHOTO: BEN ZULLO
The film begins with Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche making a shadow butterfly on the wall with his hands. While the butterfly's magnified shadow flaps its dark wings on a white wall, he asks, "How do you know this is a butterfly?"
The shadow on the wall is like reality projected on the screen of our mind. The layers of illusion and reality are interwoven into each other. While the theme of illusion is dominant in the film, the encounter between modernity and tradition in everyday Tibetan culture is also telescoped into Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's character.
Educated in London and given his first movie-related job by Bernardo Bertolucci in Little Buddha, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoch rides the tide of westernization and redefines his role as a Rinpoche.
When Tokarchuk informs the Dalai Lama that Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche is making a feature film based on the real events of the monks at Dzongsar Institute, he breaks into laughter commenting, "Oh, I see, lamas are actors now."
As she reveals in her documentary, the actors in The Cup are all from a real monastery and cast by their ecclesiastical superior. (Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche coaxed 14-year-old Jamyang Lodro into playing the role of Orgyen in The Cup with a promise of taking him to Disneyland.)
Jovial and with a sense of absurdity, Life as Cinema rings quiet notes of political urgency. Unlike other dramas on Tibet such as Kundun (1997) and Seven Years in Tibet (1997), Tokarchuk does not portray Tibet as mired in Chinese suppression. Instead, Life as Cinema tracks the footsteps of Tibetan Buddhists to India, France, England, Canada, Hong Kong, and of course Taiwan.
It is, after all, a documentary on Tibet-on-the-move, a film on the nature of change and openness.
The second part of the trilogy will go into the background of Dzongsar monastery in Tibet and focus on Karpu Lama, a Tibetan who now lives in Taiwan.
In a partial preview, Karpu's exile from Tibet is captured in a soliloquy that drifts across beautifully crafted images of Tibetan valleys and Taipei's streets. "Life is dreamlike," says Tokarchuk, "but it is also telling a history."
For your information :
There will be a free public screening of Life as Cinema at the Wisteria Tea House (
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach. “Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on international affairs tells the Taipei Times, adding that Taiwan may become more cautious in its dealings with South Korea going forward. Taipei has called on Seoul to correct its electronic entry system, which currently lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan),” warning that reciprocal measures may follow if the wording is not changed before March 31. As of yesterday,
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must have been slaves, for the Portuguese dealt slaves across Asia. Though we often speak of “Portuguese” ships, imagining them as picturesque vessels manned by pointy-bearded Iberians, in Asia Portuguese shipping between local destinations was crewed by Asian seamen, with a handful of white or Eurasian officers. “Even the great carracks of 1,000-2,000 tons which plied
It’s only half the size of its more famous counterpart in Taipei, but the Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature Science (NMNS, 國立自然科學博物館植物園) is surely one of urban Taiwan’s most inviting green spaces. Covering 4.5 hectares immediately northeast of the government-run museum in Taichung’s North District (北區), the garden features more than 700 plant species, many of which are labeled in Chinese but not in English. Since its establishment in 1999, the site’s managers have done their best to replicate a number of native ecosystems, dividing the site into eight areas. The name of the Coral Atoll Zone might
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
RSS