Himalaya (1999)

Academy Awards, USA 2000

Nominee Oscar

Best Foreign Language Film Nepal.

Kino International
Directed by Éric Valli
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Kino)

Villagers in Nepal make an annual trek across the mountains with their herd of yaks to gather the salt they use to trade for grain. One such caravan has returned with their leader dead after taking a dangerous shortcut. In the ensuing power struggle, the leader's father, a village elder, insists on leading the next caravan until his young grandson can be trained. Meanwhile, a rival insists that he will lead the next caravan. The younger man ignores tradition and leaves days earlier than the elder, who waits for the right day according to the stars and other superstitions. Still, his experience allows him to catch up to the other caravan deep in the mountains. When he predicts a snow storm on a clear day, no one believes him, but when he sets out early to beat it his caravan gets trapped, requiring the younger man to rescue him. Set among the spectacular landscapes of Nepal, what should have been a gripping story turns out to be rather routine, even predictable. The slick production by an all-French crew never manages to capture the grit and grime of life in remote Nepal.