Tharlo

Tharlo is a Tibetan shepherd from Qinghai blessed with a phenomenal memory: he can recite the entire text of Mao’ famous essay ” the People” in Chinese. He demonstrates this to a duly impressed local policeman while he applies for an ID card. The policeman informs Tharlo that he is required to wash his long braided hair for his ID photo and sends him to a hair salon in town, where he meets beautiful hairstylist Yangtso. As a pastoralist seriously out of his element in town, Tharlo becomes culturally and morally disoriented and gradually yields to Yangtso’ charms. She then takes him out for a wild and disorienting night on the town….

Pema Tseden and DP Lü Songye’ mesmerizing black-and-white long takes frame two superb performances by famous Tibetan TV and stage comedian Shide Nyima as Tharlo and pop singer Yangshik Tso as Yangtso. This fable about the clash of Tibetan cultures — traditional and contemporary, pastoral and urban — is a penetrating psycho-sexual study of masculinity in crisis and a riveting portrayal of rapid social change, and much more. This may be Pema Tseden’ most sublime film: desperately sad, provocatively beautiful.

Shot in monochrome, using long, meditative takes and locked shots, this is a film that requires investment on the part of the viewer. It repays the effort – it’s a rich allegory for a nation torn between past and future.

4/5 Wendy Ide, The Observer

The lovely, loving craft extends to gentle, haunting sound design: these worlds are both concrete and dreamy in Tseden’s eye, geometrically exquisite yet filled with implications of wandering and wonder.

Ray Pride, Newcity

A warm, wise fable of uncertainty.

Kevin Harley, Total Film

Community Partner