Dreaming Lhasa goes a long way on the strength of its exotic visuals and gently urgent narrative, but in the end it doesn't go quite far enough.
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05/04/07
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Dreaming Lhasa (2007)
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Reviews Counted:17
Fresh:7
Rotten:10
Average Rating:5/10
Synopsis: A journey of self-discovery begins for a Tibetan-American filmmaker named Karma when she journeys to northern India to make a documentary. Her subject: escaped political prisoners from Tibet. But,... [More]
Starring: Tenzin Chokyi Gyatso, Tenzin Jigme, Jampa Kalsang
Director: Ritu Sarin, Tenzing Sonam
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Reviews for Dreaming Lhasa
1 - 17 (sorted by source)
As political statements go, Dreaming Lhasa is gentle, well-meaning and produced 10 years too late and three drafts too soon.
04/17/07
The fictional story incorporates harrowing documentary testimony from former Tibetan political prisoners, but essentially this is a hopeful look at a resilient people keeping their traditions alive as they move into the digital age.
05/04/07
Manages to enchant with its simplicity and scenery.
04/20/07
Stilted acting and dialogue, but Tibet has hardly a film industry: we should be glad this picture about identity crisis has come our way.
04/10/07
There's no questioning the sincere intentions of the filmmakers, but their dull dialogue and unsure, sometimes aimless-seeming dramatic focus make their film less than compelling.
04/16/07
It is among the dullest and least confident movies to unspool this year.
04/19/07
A static and awkward effort that never quite comes to life.
04/24/07
Dreaming Lhasa is a fine example of how feature films can be used to deliver urgent political messages, but its dramatic elements waver.
04/18/07
This surprisingly-engaging, semi-autobiographical docudrama must have served as sojourn of self-discovery for the moviemaker, though it now offers his audience a refreshingly realistic peek into the plight of a displaced people.
04/10/07
Rather than offer more information or documentation, the film uses a fictional framework to explore the human-scale effects of exile on those Tibetans who've escaped their homeland.
07/13/07
The script is undone by confusing romantic developments, a convoluted murder mystery and a facile and maudlin resolution.
05/04/07
Whenever the filmmakers stray from Dhondup's story (and the tales of other refugees), they tend to lose their way.
05/04/07
While the film argues that nationalism isn't confined by borders, it also proves that neither are bad performances.
04/10/07
A well-realized drama about Tibetans living in exile in India and their quest to find meaning.
04/10/07
A sensitive if literal-minded tale that demonstrates how Tibet's national identity is of a piece with its spiritual heart.
05/04/07
Top CriticThe adverts promise a voyage to Tibet like we've never seen, but Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam's vision of people unmoored from their homeland is a familiar and banal embossment of foreign anguish.
04/11/07
Top Critic1 - 17 (sorted by source)
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