X
- 2022
- Samuel Goldwyn Films
- 1 h 50 m
- 2022
- Samuel Goldwyn Films
- 1 h 50 m
- 2022
- Samuel Goldwyn Films
- 1 h 50 m
- 2022
- Samuel Goldwyn Films
- 1 h 50 m
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
76
7.7
Where to Watch
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
76
85% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
15% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
76
85% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
15% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom is more than what Ang Lee calls a “breath of fresh air”; it’s an affirmation that all films, however humble their origin, can matter and be counted.
The film invites us to imagine interior lives, a narrowing of the “pursuit of happiness” to tasks at hand, modest goals, music, food and love. As our pandemic waxes and wanes, “Lunana” becomes one of the great cinematic escapes of recent years.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 User Ratings
7.7
82% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
18% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 User Ratings
7.7
82% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
18% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Oh so simple, yet oh so sweet.
'Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom' is pretty wholesome, in short. There isn't anything revolutionary about the plot, there aren't any major events across the 100 or so minutes but that doesn't hamper the film at all. It's a breezy watch from beginning to end, with some good acting alongside some lovely visuals of Bhutan. Recommended!
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This is a lovely little movie that digs deep into human nature and the costs of modernity. The scenery is breathtaking. There's a satisfying story arc with some character development over time. The female lead is a very accomplished singer whose ornamentation cannot be beaten. Highly recommended family film.
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Lunana’s appeal is hard to miss: though rather naive in its messaging and unashamedly sentimental, the film is so pure of spirit and so open-hearted, you want to breathe it in, to fill your lungs with it.
The story arc of Lunana may offer few surprises but Dorji handles it with confidence and buckets of charm.
Gentle and lilting, "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” moves at a hiker’s pace.
The gently efficient story feels like an attempt to illustrate Bhutan’s real-life “Gross National Happiness” initiative.
There is something winning in this calm, walking-pace drama – and the landscape is amazing.
It's always gratifying to find a little-known film that delights beyond expectations, as is the case with this Oscar-nominated offering from Bhutan. In this story of a teacher who's unhappily locked into a government contract (and who would rather relocate to Australia to pursue a singing career), the film follows his evolutionary odyssey when his unsatisfactory performance earns him a reassignment to the remote village of Lunana, a highland native community that doesn't even have electricity. It's a prospect he loathes -- that is, until he sees joys and insights coming out of the experience that open his eyes to possibilities that he hadn't previously considered for his life and his art. Heartfelt sentiments, gorgeous cinematography, unexpected satisfaction and skillfully nuanced performances abound, despite occasional tendencies toward obvious but forgivable predictability. Director Powa Choyning Dorji's debut feature showcases the work of a promising new talent who appears poised to deliver elegant, beautiful and revitalizing work from the rooftop of the world. Looking forward to what comes next.
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(Mauro Lanari)
Shaken between the two opposing worlds of learning and teaching, of the gaze turned to the (primitively backward) past and the (technologically consumerist) future, between the discovery of one's local roots and the desire to build a globalized novelty, the antithetical naive regrets of nostalgia and melancholy, the debutant director is good at always stopping a moment before the rhetorical slip and has the humility to admit that he has no solution: an emotionality held back and exalted by the ambiguously open epilogue.
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Production Company
Dangphu Dingphu: A 3 Pigs Production,
Huanxi Media Group
Release Date Jan 21, 2022
Duration 1 h 50 m
Tagline Find What You Seek in a Place You Never Expected
Website
https://bhutanclassroom.com/
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Palm Springs International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
Lessinia Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations