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
49
2012
41
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
84
Avatar![]()
69
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
53
Blind Side
53
Book of Eli, The
55
Christmas Carol, A
57
Daybreakers
43
Dear John
27
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
55
Edge of Darkness
45
Extraordinary Measures
83
Fantastic Mr. Fox![]()
42
From Paris with Love
65
Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The
74
Invictus
57
It's Complicated
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Leap Year
33
Legion
42
Lovely Bones, The
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
34
Ninja Assassin
19
Old Dogs
xx
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
39
Planet 51
79
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73
Princess & the Frog, The
64
Road, The
57
Sherlock Holmes
27
Spy Next Door, The
36
Tooth Fairy
44
Twilight Saga: New Moon, The
83
Up in the Air![]()
43
Valentine's Day
25
When in Rome
71
Where the Wild Things Are
xx
WolfMan, The
63
Youth in Revolt
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
46
44 Inch Chest
83
Ajami![]()
73
Amreeka
xx
Barefoot to Timbuktu
19
Bitch Slap
24
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
76
Broken Embraces
64
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
84
Cove, The![]()
84
Crazy Heart![]()
21
Crazy on the Outside
48
Creation
xx
Daddy Long Legs
81
Damned United, The![]()
68
Departures
62
District 13: Ultimatum
85
Education, An![]()
71
Eyes Wide Open
24
Falling Awake
81
Fish Tank![]()
56
For My Father
xx
From Mexico with Love
43
Frozen
68
Girl on the Train, The
52
Killing Kasztner
74
Last Station, The
43
Little Traitor, The
51
Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The
73
Me and Orson Welles
76
Messenger, The
57
Missing Person, The
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
xx
My Name is Khan
49
Nine
63
North Face
59
October Country
67
Off and Running
52
Paranoids, The
49
Pop Star on Ice
49
Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The
xx
Promised Lands (Re-release)
69
Red Riding Trilogy, The
29
Saint John of Las Vegas
69
September Issue, The
36
Serious Moonlight
63
Shinjuku Incident, The
77
Single Man, A
xx
Still Bill
76
Terribly Happy
74
That Evening Sun
19
To Save a Life
68
Town Called Panic, A
59
Until the Light Takes Us
57
Videocracy
65
Waiting for Armageddon
82
White Ribbon![]()
43
Women in Trouble
xx
Word is Out
64
Young Victoria, The
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Himalaya

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)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
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...
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 >Washington Post Desson Thomson
The dance between authenticity and storymaking works beautifully.
Read Full Review >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 >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 >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 >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 >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 >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
The plot is woven from minutely observed details that beautifully evoke a rarely seen world.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
A film of unusual visual beauty and enormous intrinsic interest.
Read Full Review >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 >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 >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
It's the tortoise and the hare, Nepalese-style, and it's surprisingly dramatic.
Read Full Review >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 >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.
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Himalaya doesn't need a traditional story line to transport the viewer into another, fascinating world.
Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
The cast is largely nonprofessional, and the story has the simplicity of myth.
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 >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.
