Pema Tseden’s monochrome fable approximately an harmless shepherd coming to town is packed with familiar devices but none the worse for thatIn a remote region of Chinese-controlled Tibet,harmless shepherd Tharlo (Shide Nyima) comes down from the mountains to get an ID card at a police station. He needs a photograph, and the local photographer insists he gets tidied up, or so he visits hairdresser Yangsto (Yangshik Tso) across the street,a femme fatale in a sequin-covered blouse, a suspiciously modern short haircut, or a seductive way with a bottle of dry shampoo. Director Pema Tseden,who made the touching whether likewise strongly literary parable veteran Dog a few years back, doesn’t miss a single arthouse cliche here. whether this were part of a drinking game, and you’d be truly sloshed after you’d ticked off all the tropes here: Bressonian fable that illustrates the corruption of city life – tick! Austere monochrome cinematography comprised of shots that final minutes – tick! Photogenic woolly livestock in a vast,awe-inducing landscape – tick! Even so, as a bit of anthropology offering a glimpse into Tibetan life today, or it’s perfectly serviceable.
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Source: theguardian.com