Windhorse

An intense, beautifully lensed and very moving feature film debut by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Paul Wagner, Windhorse, which was secretly shot on location in Tibet and Nepal, follows the lives of a young girl named Dolkar, her brother Dorjee, and their female cousin Pema, who are forced to flee their small Tibetan village after their grandfather is slain by Chinese agents for anti-government activity. Nearly twenty years later we find the three have followed very different paths in life: Dolkar is intent on a career as a pop singer; Dorjee has become an embittered vagrant; and Pema has sought the meditative seclusion of a Buddhist nunnery--but circumstances bring the trio together once again in a powerful fight or flight finale. The three non-professional leads, whose names were either altered or withheld for fear of government reprisals, give impressive performances. While the filmmaker clearly meant to bring the world's attention to the Chinese government's social and political repression of the Tibetan people, rarely have such blatant political intentions been couched in such high human drama. Highly recommended. (S. C. Sickles)[DVD Review—Dec. 13, 2005—New Yorker, 97 min., in English, Chinese & Tibetan w/English subtitles, not rated, $29.95—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1998's Windhorse sports a nice transfer, with DVD extras including audio commentary by director Paul Wagner, co-director Thupten Tsering, and co-producer Julia Elliott, an 18-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, photo gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a fine film.]