Originally Published in Kee Magazine
Hong Kong, 2002
by Noa Jones
A monk sits in quiet contemplation by a giant fir tree deep in a forest near one of Bhutan's highest passes. Mountains capped with fresh snow glitter between the branches. Suddenly, he lifts an oversized megaphone from behind a bush and bellows "Quiet please! Kemachop!" In addition to being the attendant of a renowned Buddhist vajra master, the monk is working today as 2nd AD on the set of Travellers and Magicians
Bhutan's first feature to be shot on film. The director happens to be the very same vajra master, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche; only today he prefers to be referred to as Khyentse Norbu.
"And...action!" calls Norbu. The rest of the crew falls completely quiet, barely breathing, even the enormous black crows seem to be tiptoeing in the treetops. Deki Yangzom steps into her role as a lonely housewife whose secluded existence is turned inside out by Tashi, a mysterious stranger played by Lhakpa Dorji.
Deki looks stunning in the warm dawn light, even though it is a cold damp afternoon. Ray Peschke, the film's master lighting designer is the man responsible for this illusion. His credits include lighting design for such films as Born on the 4th of July, JFK, Natural Born Killers, Wag the Dog and Kalifornia. He gave up the chance to work on Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill to be here. He has no regrets.
The crew wraps for the night just as a cold light rain begins to make its way through the trees. We head "home" - an abandoned logging camp that Prayer Flag Pictures refurbished for this two-week section of the shoot. Khyentse Norbu is jolly as he dines in the makeshift canteen. The cooks have prepared a number of delicious Bhutanese dishes. It's difficult to choose between the spicy chilies, red rice, deep-fried hard-boiled eggs, yak meat and delicate mushrooms from the nearby woods. The conversation is equally spicy as the Bhutanese crew and the westerners trade bawdy jokes and travel tales, though the Bhutanese are timid at first, unsure of how to behave around such a highly venerated lama. They cover their mouths when they speak and keep their eyes averted. An audible gasp escapes the kitchen when one of the westerners whacks their Rinpoche on the arm in jest.
After dinner, everyone piles into a shed we call the "bar" to watch the dailies. Mugs of ara, the local rice wine, are served, the small bukhari stove is lit and everyone grips to watch shadowy video splits of Deki, Lhakpa and their co-star Gomchen Penjor. Even in black and white, even in video with no sound, the images stir us. It's like watching an amniocentesis - a baby is coming to life and she is amazing in every way.
A white horse gleams in the moonlight. His name is Tuma, which means orange. Neten Chokling Rinpoche, an accomplished rider, has agreed to be a stuntman for the scene where Lhakpa loses control. Rinpoche was one of the starts of Khyentse Norbu's last film The Cup and is back on set gathering experience for his own future films.
A week passes. Deki's steamy bath scene is the talk of camp. Her portrayal of the temptress is spot on. But the rain returns. It is cold. The hot water system isn't working. Moods are dark. Rinpoche has performed several traditional Buddhist pujas to appease the local deities on his own time but tonight he asks for a ceremony of a new kind. The crew is invited - instructed rather - to dance with abandon around a giant campfire. Compact but powerful Bose speakers are hooked into his iPod and soon the crew is grinding in the mud to throbbing trance music. Monks and Hollywood professionals alike join in the dance party. Hours later, red cheeked and relieved, we look to the sky and see stars for the first time in days. In the morning, there is sunshine.
This "magic" part of the story wraps and the crew moves on to Chendebji, farther east, colder, bigger cast, thinner walls at camp but somehow the crew is finally bonding, finding it's rhythm. Rinpoche performs a puja at Pelela Pass. Some of the non-Buddhist crewmembers tag along. Fog swirls and mingles with the smoke of thirteen fires. Nicole Lazaroff, our Australian boom operator, assists one of the monks is preparing tormas. "I like any religion that worships cake," she chirps. We pose for photos with Rinpoche and a nomadic yak herder with ruddy red cheeks comes to ask the director for a blessing. The Bhutanese crew leads us all in a Bhutanese dance. Throughout the puja, blessings and dance Rinpoche keeps his Walkman on - he's listening to Nusrat Fati Ali Khan.
It's back to work. There are many obstacles. Producers Mal Watson and Raymond Steiner are in constant strategic and creative huddles. A camera fell on the road. There are reports from the film lab in Bangkok of mysterious scratches on some of the film rolls. Everyone gets sick for a day. We haven't seen dailies in weeks. A giant rock falls from a cliff hanging over the set and nearly hits one of the crew. We've used up all our bottles of mineral water. Our traffic coordinator has to go back to school. And the actor playing the apple man doesn't have any teeth left to eat his apple. But we plow on. Rinpoche says if we weren't doing something that will benefit many sentient beings, we wouldn't have obstacles.
Sweat and devotion are rewarded when finally a jeep pulls into camp carrying five mini DV tapes hand delivered by a pilot from the only airline in the country. Finally we see the film in color.
Again around the bukhari, the crew crams into the dining hall to watch. Khyentse Norbu is wearing a towel having bathed in a hot stone tub we installed out back. Steam rises from his skin. The film is exquisite in color. The editor calls from Australia ecstatic. He can't wait to see more.
Several new cast members arrive for the road scenes. Sonam Lhamo's fresh smile and deep black eyes fill the screen. There is a crash in the kitchen and we turn to see the entire staff - jaws dropped, aprons twisted - completely agog at her beauty. Rinpoche tells us she represents Bhutan in all its untouched purity. Sonam Kinga playing the monk embodies truth. Their co-star Tshewang Dendup represent the changes Bhutan faces. Tshewang watches the rushes wearing a cowboy hat and bright green Punjabi pajamas. Rinpoche seems genuinely tickled whenever he bursts in. His enthusiasm and manic energy fill the camp and electrify the screen. He is a natural.
It is dawn and the ground is white with frost. Today we wrap the post office scene and Khyentse Norbu heads far east to scout a location. His reconnaissance is not for a film shoot but for his upcoming meditation retreat. Sometime between Venice and Sundance, or maybe after the Oscars, he will slip out of his roll as film director and contemplate the beauty of impermanent things.
