Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

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

58 (Untitled)
96 35 Shots of Rum
56 Adam
72 Adela
39 Adventures of Power
78 Afghan Star
61 After the Storm
66 Afterschool
xx All the Best
58 American Casino
72 Amreeka
48 Antichrist
73 Araya
62 Art & Copy
55 As Seen Through These Eyes
76 Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86 Beaches of Agnes, The
13 Beautiful Life, A
70 Beeswax
35 Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71 Big Fan
66 Black Dynamite
51 Blind Date
xx Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76 Bliss
35 Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57 Boys Are Back, The
45 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81 Bright Star
70 Bronson
45 Burning Plain, The
xx Carriers
55 Casi Divas
57 Chelsea on the Rocks
62 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
69 Cold Souls
68 Collapse
44 Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82 Cove, The
75 Crude
82 Damned United, The
67 Departures
xx Dil Bole Hadippa
71 Disgrace
xx Do Knot Disturb
70 Earth Days
24 Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85 Education, An
55 Endgame
xx Eulogy for a Vampire
xx Everyone Else
xx Fatal Promises
56 Fifty Dead Men Walking
62 Five Minutes of Heaven
74 Flame & Citron
49 Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80 Food, Inc.
28 Free Style
xx From Mexico with Love
50 Fuel
25 Gentlemen Broncos
50 Give Me Your Hand
58 Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72 Good Hair
89 Goodbye Solo
52 Grace
64 Harmony and Me
81 Headless Woman, The
xx Heretics, The
63 Horse Boy, The
73 House of the Devil, The
xx How to Seduce Difficult Women
74 Humpday
94 Hurt Locker, The
29 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16 If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75 In Search of Beethoven
83 In the Loop
61 Intimate Enemies
42 Irene in Time
70 It Might Get Loud
46 Killing Kasztner
19 Labor Day
xx Laila's Birthday
41 Little Ashes
41 Little Traitor, The
66 Liverpool
34 Looking for Palladin
80 Lorna's Silence
85 Maid, The
xx Ministers, The
59 More Than a Game
67 Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34 Motherhood
62 My One and Only
xx Mystery Team
48 New York, I Love You
73 Night and Day
66 No Impact Man
47 Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34 Other Man, The
xx Painter Sam Francis, The
54 Paper Heart
xx Paradise
68 Paranormal Activity
68 Paris
44 Peter and Vandy
35 Play the Game
xx Pretty Ugly People
65 Providence Effect, The
76 Rembrandt's J'accuse
69 September Issue, The
79 Serious Man, A
40 Shrink
61 Skin
77 Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx Skiptracers
52 Splinterheads
39 St. Trinian's
89 Still Walking
50 Stoning of Soraya M., The
55 Storm
65 Tetro
74 That Evening Sun
72 Thirst
xx Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61 Trucker
xx Turning Green
83 U2 3D
66 Unmade Beds
66 Unmistaken Child
70 Visual Acoustics
55 Walt & El Grupo
67 Way We Get By, The
69 We Live in Public
64 Wedding Song, The
64 Where is Where?
xx White on Rice
74 Woman in Berlin, A
69 World's Greatest Dad
70 Yes Men Fix the World
69 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx You, the Living

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

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: Fantasy Football | Madden NFL10 | PGA Championship | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | US Open | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use