A fascinating departure from Pema Tseden’s usual style, this experiment in commercial Tibetan-language cinema is a romantically conceived, gorgeously shot, widescreen modern fable, filmed with professional actors and a largely Chinese crew. Handsome Nyima and brooding Dradon are two ace archers from rival villages who vie in an annual contest for the ultimate prize, the Sacred Arrow. When Dradon objects to Nyima courting his sister Dekyid, we think we know where the story is headed: a Romeo and Juliet–style tale of forbidden romance set against clan rivalries. But Pema Tseden takes this story in unexpected directions and caps it with an ecstatic, virtually wordless final 20 minutes that takes a key character on a mystical journey.
After the darkness of Old Dog, The Sacred Arrow offers something like a utopian (though it’s clearly marked as fanciful) vision of how Tibetan culture might thrive, revivifying the power of its roots to face the future.
Pema Tseden
Deji, Renqing Dunzhu, Duobujie
China
2014
In Chinese with English subtitles
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Credits
Screenwriter
Pema Tseden
Cinematography
Pan Luo
Also in This Series
Tibetan director Pema Tseden became one of the most remarkable filmmakers of this century, revolutionizing the representation of Tibet and Tibetans and sharing his visions of authentic Tibetan life with the entire film-going world by reimagining how narrative cinematic fiction could operate within so-called “Chinese minority cinema”.
The Search
Shot in exquisite long takes, this brilliant film is a road movie wrapped around three love stories. A director and crew are looking for local cast to star in their film version of the classic Tibetan opera Prince Drime Kundun.
The Silent Holy Stones
In Pema Tseden's first feature, a very young Tibetan lama living in a monastery in Qinghai discovers the delights of binge-watching a Chinese TV serial, just one aspect of the contradictions he will have to navigate in a culture steeped in tradition.
Snow Leopard
The last film Pema Tseden finished before his death at age 53 is an enthralling, semi-mystical fable about the deep spiritual connection between a young Tibetan priest and a snow leopard responsible for killing livestock belonging to the priest's brother.
First Steps: Pema Tseden Short Films
Pema Tseden was the first Tibetan director to graduate from the Beijing Film Academy. The Silent Manistone (2002) and his graduation film, The Grassland (2004) are fascinating sketches for later works.
Old Dog
In what may be Pema Tseden's darkest film, a Tibetan mastiff is sold, recovered, re-sold, stolen, and recovered yet again, passing through the hands of an ethnic Chinese dealer, the local police, and Tibetan dog rustlers.
Balloon
The young sons of virile Tibetan shepherd Dargye mistake their parents' condoms for balloons. Meanwhile Dargye is looking for a ram to impregnate his flock. Balloon is fascinated with ideas of potency, pregnancy, and the possibilities for female autonomy.
The Sacred Arrow
A romantic, gorgeously shot, widescreen modern fable, this is a marked departure from Pema Tseden's usual stye. Handsome Nyima and brooding Dradon are ace archers from rival villages who vie in an annual contest for the ultimate prize, the Sacred Arrow.