I decided to write a review for this movie because the only one I found here was simply dead wrong. This movie makes an effort to tell some of the realities of life for Tibetans today (actually, ten years ago, but nothing much has changed), and to do so with a degree of realism seldom found. To do so, the producer decided to film scenes in Tibet surreptitiously. Was there any point to that? Indeed -- this is a movie that speaks to Tibetans worldwide, and having actual footage of their country in it means a lot. I have been in Tibet, and I can tell the difference between real footage of Lhasa and faked scenes.
This is not a movie that you watch on a lazy evening for entertainment. It is sad, sometimes brutal, and it left me with a terrible sense of hopelessness about the long-term fate of the Tibetans left in Tibet (although it also made me feel hopeful about Tibetan expatriates). But it is a movie that tells a truth that needs telling, especially today, when we have all forgotten what Communist China is really like.
This is not a movie that you watch on a lazy evening for entertainment. It is sad, sometimes brutal, and it left me with a terrible sense of hopelessness about the long-term fate of the Tibetans left in Tibet (although it also made me feel hopeful about Tibetan expatriates). But it is a movie that tells a truth that needs telling, especially today, when we have all forgotten what Communist China is really like.