Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Best / Worst of the Decade

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

67 3 Idiots
47 44 Inch Chest
82 Ajami
71 American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein
73 Amreeka
75 Art of the Steal, The
43 Barefoot to Timbuktu
19 Bitch Slap
49 Blood Done Sign My Name
24 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
76 Broken Embraces
52 Celine: Through the Eyes of the World
67 Children of Invention
65 City Island
64 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
84 Cove, The
83 Crazy Heart
21 Crazy on the Outside
51 Creation
xx Daddy Long Legs
81 Damned United, The
57 Defendor
61 Delta
68 Departures
64 District 13: Ultimatum
72 Easier with Practice
85 Education, An
61 Exploding Girl, The
70 Eyes Wide Open
24 Falling Awake
81 Fish Tank
56 For My Father
52 Formosa Betrayed
xx From Mexico with Love
43 Frozen
xx Ghost Town
77 Ghost Writer, The
69 Girl on the Train, The
73 Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The
47 Good Guy, The
78 Greenberg
35 Happy Tears
68 Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suess
20 Harlem Aria
xx Killing Jar, The
52 Killing Kasztner
xx Kimjongilia
41 Last New Yorker, The
76 Last Station, The
47 Little Traitor, The
51 Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The
71 Lourdes
73 Me and Orson Welles
77 Messenger, The
80 Mid-August Lunch
57 Missing Person, The
76 Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
79 Mother
50 My Name is Khan
88 Neil Young Trunk Show
49 Nine
67 North Face
64 October Country
67 Off and Running
52 Paranoids, The
40 Phyllis and Harold
49 Pop Star on Ice
49 Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The
74 Prodigal Sons
xx Promised Lands (Re-release)
89 Prophet, A
76 Red Riding Trilogy, The
63 Runaways, The
32 Saint John of Las Vegas
83 Secret of Kells, The
69 September Issue, The
36 Serious Moonlight
57 Severe Clear
63 Shinjuku Incident, The
xx Shutterbug
77 Single Man, A
76 Still Bill
34 Stolen
xx Suicide Girls Must Die!
52 Tales from the Script
74 Terribly Happy
74 That Evening Sun
47 To Die for Tano
19 To Save a Life
63 Toe to Toe
69 Town Called Panic, A
54 Until the Light Takes Us
60 Videocracy
84 Vincere
66 Waiting for Armageddon
45 White on Rice
82 White Ribbon
xx White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights, The
43 Women in Trouble
xx Word is Out
64 Yellow Handkerchief, The
64 Young Victoria, The

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Himalaya

EMAILPRINTKino International

Himalaya reviews
73
8.9 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Nathalie Azoulai
Olivier Dazat
Louis Gardel
Jean-Claude Guillebaud

Directed by: Eric Valli

Release Date:
Theatrical: May 25, 2001
DVD: March 5, 2002

Running Time: 108 minutes, Color

Origin: France / Nepal / Switzerland / UK

Language(s): Tibetan with English subtitles

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Thilen Lhondup, Gurgon Kyap, Lhakpa Tsamchoe, Karma Wangel, and Karma Tensing

A universal and timeless saga that tells a story of power, pride and glory. (Kino International)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

They are naturals at acting, not because they're good at lying but because they can't be phony.

Read Full Review >
90

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The dance between authenticity and storymaking works beautifully.

Read Full Review >
90

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

This sensuous, exotic film is more like an issue of "National Geographic" come to life, rich with cultural detail and insight.

Read Full Review >
88

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Himalaya does for yak caravans what "Red River" did for cattle drives: it sees them as the stuff of epic conquest.

Read Full Review >
88

Chicago Tribune John Petrakis

Most of the performers have limited acting experience, but they are perfect for their parts, exhibiting the courage, stamina and wariness essential to live in such a harsh environment.

Read Full Review >
83

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Not quite a masterpiece perhaps, but a visually stunning mountain drama, and an absorbing look at a dying culture.

Read Full Review >
80

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

Captured extraordinary performances from a cast of non-actors, as well as magnificent images of a vast landscape.

Read Full Review >
75

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

It's human drama, high and mighty.

Read Full Review >
75

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

The plot is woven from minutely observed details that beautifully evoke a rarely seen world.

Read Full Review >
75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A film of unusual visual beauty and enormous intrinsic interest.

Read Full Review >
70

TV Guide Ken Fox

(Valli) brings an ethnographer's eye for detail to a plot that amounts to little more than the good old generation gap.

Read Full Review >
70

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Complexity and personality among key figures keeps Himalaya involving throughout its grueling journey and lifts the film above the merely ethnographic.

Read Full Review >
67

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

It's the tortoise and the hare, Nepalese-style, and it's surprisingly dramatic.

Read Full Review >
63

New York Post V.A. Musetto

One of the most beautiful movies you're likely to see this year. And the cast members, all amateurs, are first-rate.

Read Full Review >
63

Boston Globe Chris Fujiwara

Valli's touch as an artist is too light, and his dramatic sense too timid, to make the film much more than a collection of pretty pictures.

63

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Himalaya doesn't need a traditional story line to transport the viewer into another, fascinating world.

60

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

The cast is largely nonprofessional, and the story has the simplicity of myth.

60

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Somehow, in spite of the stunning vistas and some witty and affecting moments, the story seems to unfold at a distance; the human drama is diminished by the setting rather than amplified by it.

Read Full Review >
60

Village Voice Leslie Camhi

Himalaya lacks such lightness, humor, and grace, offering instead the surface beauty of an ancient and inviolate culture.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Tyler G. gave it an 8:
Besides the wife of the deceased son, the poster girl for this movie, all of the actors are unknows from right there in Nepal. They are Dolpa-pa. Tinle and Karma appear authentic as such. The only downside was the slow beginning. But the character of Narbou adds a wonderful dimension to the complete story with his fresco, his praying and his relationship with his father, Tinle. I reccomend getting the DVD and watching the making of the movie feature. Michael - Ethno-porn? No. A worthy, well-documented effort. Just watch the making of the movie sequence and you will understand the intentions of everyone involved. Tinle and co. went in to this film with gusto and without being prodded. There is, as you say, plenty of ethnic exploitation going on out there and needs to be shot down. But try not to be hypersensitive. Give the old filter a tune-up so that you can enjoy this movie!

Michael S. gave it a 1:
HIMALAYA is Asianphilic ethno-porn. Valli's camera lingers over the leathery flesh of the Tibetans like he was shooting stills for a taxidermic showcase in a natural history museum. Oh, and the old man reaches the top of the mountain against all odds, then conveniently expires. This film leaves no cliche unturned. It is simpleminded and offensive in its fetishization of its subjects. Why so many people are lapping this up, I'll never know. Avoid.

Tasneem C. gave it a 10:
It was beautiful.

Popular on CBS sites: College Signing Day | March Madness | TV | iPhone | Cell Phones | Video Game Reviews | Free Music

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use