Himalaya

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

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

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The dance between authenticity and storymaking works beautifully.

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.

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.

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.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

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

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

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

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

It's human drama, high and mighty.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

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

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A film of unusual visual beauty and enormous intrinsic interest.

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.

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.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

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

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.

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.

Village Voice Leslie Camhi

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