BY JOHN MONAGHAN
While movies like “Kundun” and “Seven Years in Tibet” have struggled to depict the majesty of the ancient Himalayan culture, there’s nothing like the truth. And that’s why “Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion” is the most powerful film yet to explore the complexity of the region’s dire political situation.
While other films have done an excellent job in presenting the details of Tibetan spiritual life, director Tom Peosay uses the standard tools of the documentary trade (talking head interviews, archival footage and modern scenic footage) to show how China is using economic progress to justify its stranglehold on the Tibetan culture.
The Chinese government maintains that before 1950 Tibetan leaders ruled over an oppressive class system of peasants and the wealthy. Communist reforms resulted in the exile of the nation’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and flooded the region with Chinese settlers who have brought jobs and opportunity, but mostly for themselves.
Many natives have since fled to neighboring countries, including India, while the once-beautiful Tibetan city of Lhasa looks like strip mall, complete with a Burger King and a Wal-Mart.
The movie opens with eyewitness accounts of the Chinese government’s brutal response to pro-Tibetan demonstrations. The weaving of documentary clips with the vivid narration make you feel as if you were there. Gorgeously photographed scenery and ancient structures tell you what all the fuss is about as the Tibetans work to preserve what’s left of their spiritual heritage.
While China comes off as the villain, America is also chided for not doing more to stop what former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeanne Kirkpatrick calls “ethnic cleansing.”
Though Peosay and writers Sue Peosay and Victoria Mudd try to present their information without preaching, there are some ironies that speak best for themselves. Though Richard Gere’s now-famous support of Tibet at the Oscars isn’t mentioned, footage of head-banging metal bands supporting Buddhist religious freedom seem more than incongruous.
An obvious labor of love nearly a decade in the making, “Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion” will make even the most apolitical viewers want to hoist their own Free Tibet banners.
Contact freelance writer JOHN MONAGHAN at madjohn@earthlink.net.
