one of my absolute favorites!

It is a performances centric movie

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

In Travellers and Magicians, Bhutanese director Khyentse Norbu (The Cup) tells us two parallel stories that deliver one message - happiness is usually found in the simpler things in life.The protagonist of this gentle film is a man called Dondup, a young, highly Westernized civil servant, who works in a small village in the Himalayas and dreams of migrating to America (as indication of his westernization, we see him listening to rock music in a portable stereo). One day, he receives a long expected letter, indicating a visa to the US is waiting for him in the Bhutanese capital of Thimbu. Unfortunately, he just misses the bus (which appears in the village only sporadically) so he decides to hitchhike to the capital. Along the road, he meets people representing a simpler side of life: an apple seller, a Buddhist monk, and a maker of traditional rice paper and his beautiful teenage daughter.To pass the time, the monk starts telling the group a story, which is the framework for the film's second, parallel story: a fugitive finds refuge in a remote forest, in the house of an elderly woodcutter. The woodcutter has a far younger wife, to which the fugitive starts feeling increasingly attracted, and this attraction is reciprocated by her. The fugitive's attraction for the woodcutter's daughter is the mirror of the increasing feelings of Dondup towards the paper maker's daughter in the first story. Eventually, Dondup will realize that the simpler things in life are usually the best ones.

The name of the movie alone fascinated me for a long time, when i finally saw it, it turned out not to be quite what i had expected. I always think deep in the essence of Buddhism there lies a hint of resignation and defeatism in the disguise of peace and harmony, but in a positive sort of way. Ppl are obsessed with the feeling of being in control, evidenced by thousands of choices made on a daily basis. But really a man has very limited power in steering his life in the way he envisioned -- entrenched in his own lifeboat in the sea of society and history, he has no way of knowing in which way the wind blows, all he can do is trying his best to maintain the balance of that boat in the raging storm so it does not tip over under the repeated attack of thunders, lightnings and the surging waves. So Buddhism says why not give up the pretense of being in control and take what's coming to you. Let go the obsession over the man-made concept of fairness and play with the cards you were dealt. The whole story of the travelers hinged on the last conversation between the official and the monk. Even what you just came to realize as the true meaning of life is only contingent truth. Everything is circumstantial, and beauty by its nature will die right in front of your eyes just as you started to get use to it. In a sense this movie is a tragedy, but done in an almost nonchalant way, and that's the beauty of it. The teasing tone of the monk also reflects the mentality of the story-telling. The official thought he had a vision in life, then the movie made painstaking efforts to build up this self-revealing moment where he discovered what he really wanted in life. And that moment itself was done in such a casual way you'd miss it if you blinked. Then when the movie drew to the end he dismissed that revelation with a brief smile and we were back to where we started. Then you would have the revelation of your own as the credits started to roll : Oh, so it's like a Samsara.Speaking of which, the story in the story about lust and murder (or it's more like the story in the story which is in the main story) reflects my favorite quote in the movie "Samsara". In that movie, a monk succumbed to the flesh of a woman and deflected to the worldly life, and years later his dying master sent him a message: "I'm about to die. And I know I haven't achieved Nirvana in this life so I'm destined to go into Samsara and come back to this world as a new born. Maybe we should meet again, and then you can tell me, which is more fulfilling -- to satisfy a thousand desire or to conquer one."

The movie starts with a close up of a face. That face belongs to the monk that in my translated version (spanish) was mosquito. Now you can get a grip of the calm life of the monks and also the patience and love for their life in them, this in contrast with the life of Dondup, who is desperate of that living. The whole movie is the journey into the life of each one and seeing the things that matter in life. For Dondup it was a physical journey, travelling and meeting and sharing with people. For Tashi it was a spiritual journey, based on the magic (hence the title). This is also reinforced by the beautiful management of the camera and the filters used showing a clear and vivid physical journey (highly contrasted) in difference with the sepia tone of the spiritual journey. Highly recommended if you want to see a beautiful work of art and you are not bothered with looking at the best Hollywood films and have tolerance for spiritual and mystic things. Although the movie deals very heavily on this aspects, the movie is beyond spirituality.

Often less is more...and that is part of the message in this movie, as well as the style. With so many empty, soul-less blockbusters to fray our nerves, Travellers and Magicians is a refreshing and heartfelt view into the psyche of the Bhutanese people, Buddhism, the Himalayas and human joy, passion and suffering. The theme of the movie is someone wanting to be somewhere else, in this case, the 'dream' of America, the land of opportunity, when a more wonderful opportunity arises right in front of him, and changes his mind...perhaps.The director, a Buddhist monk and lama, (who also directed "The Cup")was inspired by Bertolucci, and TAM has a similar minimalist kind of style and presentation to Little Buddha. And this is perfectly apt for the country of Bhutan, and the pace serves to bring out the heart and soul of the movie. The photography is wonderful, showing sweeping shots of the beautiful Bhutanese Himalayas and countryside. All the characters are rich without being caricatures, and the mix of 'reality' and myth (a real Bhutanese fable) works well. The traveling Buddhist monk really stands out, IMO.If you're looking for a movie with heart, a simple message and gorgeous scenery, just sit back and soak in the beauty found on several levels in this movie.** SPOILERS **I went to the initial release of the movie in the US, and the director of photography, Alan Koslowski, as well as the main female actor, high schooler Sonam Llamo, were present afterward for Q&A. Some of the things they said were quite interesting: there was not one professional actor in the movie - the apple man is really an apple man, Deki works in a bank, and the two main male characters in the movie, Dendrup and Tashi, are in Bhutan TV and movie production. The apple man, in real life, actually has never seen a real movie, and didn't understand the concept of "cut", or retakes - he couldn't understand why he had to get back on the bus several times in a row!