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
59 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
83 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
77 Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
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
46 Splinterheads
39 St. Trinian's
89 Still Walking
50 Stoning of Soraya M., The
55 Storm
65 Tetro
70 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.

Travellers & Magicians

EMAILPRINTZeitgeist Films

Travellers & Magicians reviews
71
9.1 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 10 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Foreign

Written by: Khyentse Norbu

Directed by: Khyentse Norbu

Release Date:
Theatrical: January 28, 2005
DVD: October 25, 2005

Running Time: 108 minutes, Color

Origin: Australia / Bhutan

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Tsewang Dandup, Sonam Lhamo, Lhakpa Dorji, Deki Yangzom, and Sonam Kinga

Two men, two women, two journeys are woven into an intricate tapestry of desires as Travellers and Magicians takes us on an adventurous emotional tour through the heartland of Bhutanese Buddhist culture. (Zeitgeist Films)

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

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Delightful performances are delivered by all in this ingenious work of cinema that is worth seeing if only for its glorious views of the Himalayas.

Read Full Review >
100

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Fulfills the promise of its title: It's transporting, it's magical.

Read Full Review >
80

Washington Post Desson Thomson

To watch this movie is to be moved not only by an affecting, warmly spirited yarn, but also by the wisdom that seems to waft to us directly from those snow-capped peaks.

Read Full Review >
80

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

A warm, embracing film of transcendent beauty and spirituality.

Read Full Review >
80

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

It isn't going anywhere, but the journey is highly entertaining.

Read Full Review >
75

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

With its intricate design, sly humour and timely theme, Travellers and Magicians is a lot more than just a travelogue.

Read Full Review >
75

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Shangri-La is in your own backyard.

Read Full Review >
75

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

Visually accomplished and loads of fun.

Read Full Review >
75

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Colorful, if not exciting.

Read Full Review >
70

The New York Times Dave Kehr

As he did in "The Cup," Mr. Norbu provides a lot of ingratiating comic moments. His Buddhism is the laughing, playful kind, and does not ask the Western audience - for whom the film is clearly intended - to deal with any uncomfortably complex religious issues.

Read Full Review >
70

Variety David Stratton

Although writer-director Khientse Norbu breaks no ground in unfolding two parallel stories about young men seeking fresh horizons, he creates believable characters -- and has the great benefit of living in a country that provides seldom-seen locations at the top of the world.

Read Full Review >
70

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Offbeat and ravishingly beautiful.

Read Full Review >
70

Village Voice Laura Sinagra

In interviews, Norbu has compared the editing process to meditation. While his pacing echoes that of polestars like Ozu and Makhmalbaf, his edits make striking events out of mundane motions like hands moving under running water and mouths meeting cups of butter tea.

Read Full Review >
70

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

Mainly notable for its exoticism and gorgeous scenery.

Read Full Review >
70

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

In this lovely film, writer-director Khientse Norbu (The Cup) shifts smoothly between a kind of Buddhist "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and depicting the bonds that form among Dondup and his companions.

Read Full Review >
67

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A film within a film encapsulated by a clever and very accurate anti-materialistic Buddhist morality lesson, Travellers and Magicians feels a bit like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales as retold by Siddhartha.

Read Full Review >
67

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The (mild) intrigue of Travellers & Magicians is that its central figure, Dondup (Tshewang Dendup), rolls his eyes at Buddhist karma.

Read Full Review >
63

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Anyone interested in Buddhism and the chance to see the high-altitude, deep-spirited landscapes of Bhutan from a movie theater seat is herewith directed to Travellers and Magicians.

Read Full Review >
50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Unsurprising tribute to the sweetness of rural dwellers.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes

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

Chad S. gave it a9:
For a Buddhist film, it's sort of funny that the reason seemingly given for the budding globetrotter to leave Bhutan is to de-virginize a barely legal village girl. But all kidding aside, "Travellers and Magicians" casts a spell, or rather, the storytelling monk is doing the spell-casting when he's doing the allegory thing for his fellow traveller. The filmmaker wittily links his two storylines together with a clever example of reincarnation just to let us know that there's more than one religion in this world.

Tony S. gave it a9:
Deceptively simple -- it knocks on the door of your unconscious and goes straight for the basement. That's a loop way of saying that much more happens in the depths than is evident on the surface. Colossal soundtrack to boot with the overtone singing.

tony j. gave it a7:
This movie has too much thought put into it, compared to the cup, which was much more light hearted. my feeling is khyntse obviously is torn between east and west, and uses film to express his ambiguity to both cultures.its easy to knock western culture once youve experienced it yourself, but when you can earn a months pay for one days apple picking in the u.s.a.

Kunsang D. gave it a6:
I was somewhat dissappointed with this movie due to higher expectation. I live close to Bhutan and I had hard time relating to the characters. The story is simple and apart from the beautiful scenery and a background music, I really didn't find anything amazing. I may be feeling this way because I saw an Indian movie starring shahrukh Khan recently called "SWADES" made by the director of LAGAAN and SWADES touched the same grounds or message and the message was very well expressed. This movie is ok. Nothing exceptional. I think the "CUP" was way better.

Yeshe L. gave it a10:
One of the best films that I have seen in recent years.

Jennie L. gave it a10:
I loved this film. i found it inspiring and moving and revealing more levels on every viewing. it gives the appearance of being (and is)a light-hearted comedy with acute fellow-feeling and observation of humans in love,in jealousy,and in confusion and dissatisfaction. For one of the Bhutanese heroes the US is his Shangri-La,whereas for us (US) that Shangri-La may seem to be Bhutan,with its pristine scenery treated with ecological respect and its humane ethics and priority on 'gross national happiness.' A heart-warming film that touches unexpectedly deep places and is more subtle and profound than it first appears. it may change the way you see things. on the other hand,you may just sit back and enjoy it!please do!:) it is a film with heart,and we look forward to many more from its unique Bhutanese director,Khyentse Norbu,and wish that he is granted the finances to express his compassionate and unusual vision,partly informed by his lifelong training in and familiarity with Buddhism,but in no way constrained by that.

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

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