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Travellers and Magicians

Cast & crew.

Lhakpa Dorji

Sonam Kinga

Sonam Lhamo

Deki Yangzom

Gomchen Penjore

• Average 7.4

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© 2003 Prayer Flag Pictures

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Travelers and Magicians

2003, Drama, 1h 47m

What to know

Critics Consensus

Interwined tales of spiritual discovery are set against a gorgeous, evocative landscape in this pleasant, engaging import. Read critic reviews

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Travelers and magicians   photos.

Bored with life in his tiny village, Dondup (Tsewang Dandup), a Bhutanese official infatuated with American culture, dreams of visiting the United States. On the road to Thimphu, a major city where he hopes to obtain a visa, Dondup befriends a mismatched group of travelers, including a monk (Sonam Kinga). As the trip proceeds, the monk tells his new friends about Tashi (Lhakpa Dorji), a fictional young man whose dissatisfaction leads to his undoing.

Genre: Drama

Original Language: Dzongkha

Director: Khyentse Norbu

Producer: Raymond Steiner , Malcolm Watson

Writer: Khyentse Norbu

Release Date (Theaters): Dec 31, 2004  original

Release Date (Streaming): Mar 11, 2017

Box Office (Gross USA): $505.3K

Runtime: 1h 47m

Distributor: Zeitgeist Films

Production Co: Prayer Flag Pictures

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

Cast & Crew

Lhakpa Dorji

Sonam Kinga

Sonam Lhamo

Deki Yangzom

Gomchen Penjore

Dasho Adab Sangye

Sonam's Father

Jigme Drukpa

Namgay Dorjee

Tsewang Dandup

Dorji Budha

Villager of Chendebaji

Sumcho Budha

Kinzang Wangchuk

Sanga Budha

Aum Chenzom

Girl in Field

Sonam Choepel

Magic Student

Khyentse Norbu

Raymond Steiner

Jeremy Thomas

Executive Producer

Malcolm Watson

Alan Kozlowski

Cinematographer

Andrew McCormick

Film Editing

Lisa-Anne Morris

Production Design

Critic Reviews for Travelers and Magicians

Audience reviews for travelers and magicians.

This is one of the best movies which shows that Holywood has lost the plot and the art of making good movies! The Cup was the first great hit of this director but this one is much better... a story of live, a real live in Bhutan and all the challenges that live brings! Perfect for watching with a family!

[font=Century Gothic]In "Travellers and Magicians", Dondup(Tsewang Dandup) has had enough of a being a government officer in a small town in Bhutan after only a month, so he plots his escape to America, using a religious festival as cover. A friend of his has a contact who can get him an American visa. Now, all he has to do is to get to Thimphu in two days time but he misses the daily bus. While waiting, he encounters an old apple vendor(Ap Dochu) and a monk(Sonam Kinga). To pass the time, the monk tells a story...[/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Travellers and Magicians" is a beautiful movie that has all the resonance of a public service announcement, arguing against free will and for constrained duty. Yes, children should care for their parents in their old age(but no extended families or government safety net in Bhutan?) but the younger generation need to live their own lives, finding a balance in the bargain. Worst of all, the character of the monk lends a dogmatic feel to the themes. But the movie does make a great case for patience when using mass transit.[/font]

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Travelers and Magicians

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Ratings and reviews.

Watch Travellers and Magicians

• 1 hr 48 min

"Travellers and Magicians" is a thought-provoking tale of self-discovery and the age-old philosophical adage of 'the grass is always greener on the other side'. The movie is a heartwarming piece of art that takes place in Bhutan, a remote and yet picturesque country located in the eastern Himalayas. The film takes the viewer on a surreal journey of culture, traditions, and the stark contrast between urban and rural ways of life.

The story of "Travellers and Magicians" is set in motion when Dondup, a young and ambitious government official, decides to leave his small Bhutanese village for the capital, hoping to find a better life there. Dondup is portrayed as a persistent and aspiring man, who believes that going to the U.S. or a big city is the key to success; he, however, faces an obstacle when he misses his bus to the capital, which forces him to hitchhike.

On his unexpected journey, Dondup meets a diverse group of people, including an old apple trader, a monk, a musician, and a few fellow hitchhikers. Each person has a story to tell and aspects of life to share with Dondup – all transforming his perspective on life. One such person, a tobacco-chewing monk, shares a philosophical story of a young farmer named Tashi who is mesmerized by the idea of going to America.

In "Travellers and Magicians," the stories interweave, and Dondup and Tashi's plotlines begin to converge. Tashi is a restless youth who dreams of going to America; however, unlike Dondup, Tashi lives in a remote village – removed from the urban realities of Dondup's life. The story’s second act dismantles the dichotomy between modern and traditional living by blending them seamlessly. The pleasure of the plot is underlined by a musical score that blends the sounds of the East and the West.

Throughout the film, several elements are central to the plot. These include the concept of fate, the gift of storytelling, the humorous portrayal of the bureaucracy in the country, and the exceptional Bhutanese landscape. The characters are brilliantly crafted and authentic, showcasing the unique lifestyle and traditions of the people of Bhutan. The harmonious use of the local language, which is both lyrical and intimate, is perhaps one of the film’s standout features.

As Dondup's and Tashi's paths meet, the story unfolds into an imaginative vision of the classic hero's quest, following their attempts to overcome various obstacles and learn life's most valuable lessons. The film's stunning and well-captured mountain landscape characterizes the quintessence of Bhutan, showcasing the distinct rural life in the most engaging way.

In conclusion, "Travellers and Magicians" is an engrossing and entertaining film that explores universal themes of love, identity, and the complexities of modernization. It is a movie that allows the viewer to reflect on one's own life's journey and how we often take the most incredible things in life for granted. The beauty of Bhutan is impeccably captured, and the splendid performances of the cast make the movie a captivating and spiritual journey that will be sure to leave an enduring impact.

Travellers and Magicians is a 2003 adventure movie with a runtime of 1 hour and 48 minutes.

• Genres Adventure Drama Indie Foreign
• Cast Neten Chokling Tshewang Dendup Lhakpa Dorji Sonam Kinga Sonam Lhamo Deki Yangzom
• Director Khyentse Norbu
• Release Date 2003
• Runtime 1 hr 48 min
• Language English

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Travellers & Magicians

• Film Format: 35mm
• Origin: Bhutan
• Runtime: 108
• Dolby SR/SRD
• Language: Dzongkha
• Subtitles: English
• Promotional

Khyentse Norbu

TRAVELLERS & MAGICIANS is Khyentse Norbu’s follow-up to his internationally successful 1999 feature THE CUP. After making its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, THE CUP won critical acclaim and festival awards around the world, as well as being distributed in over 40 countries. The New York Times named Khyentse Norbu “a born filmmaker” and London’s Evening Standard called him “one of the hottest new directorial talents around.” THE CUP is Khyentse Norbu’s semi-autobiographical tale of a group of monks obsessed with the World Cup soccer final. The surprise international hit helped humanise the image of Tibetan monks, too often portrayed as one dimensional saints. Shot in a Tibetan refugee colony in the Himalayan foothills of northern India, THE CUP was made with a cast and crew of mostly monks and novices. Amazingly, the average scene required only three takes, which director Khyentse Norbu attributed to their powers of meditation. Filmmaking credentials aside, Khyentse Norbu is also known as His Eminence Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. He is one of the most important incarnate lamas in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and a member of one of Bhutan’s most noble families. Born in a remote area of eastern Bhutan in the Year of the Metal Ox (1961), he is the son of contemporary Buddhist master Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, and grandson of both tantric yogi Lama Sonam Zangpo and H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche. At the age of seven, Khyentse Norbu was recognised as the third incarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, the nonsectarian saint, scholar and principal lama of Tibet’s Dzongsar Monastery. Dzongsar Monastery is renowned as a centre of non-sectarian scholarship and contemplation, having produced many of the greatest Tibetan Buddhist masters, scholars and practitioners of the last century. Raised in strict Buddhist monasteries and institutions in Bhutan and Sikkim, Khyentse Norbu was trained by some of the greatest living masters of Vajrayana Buddhism. He has continued his non-sectarian heritage by founding retreat centres, schools of philosophy and charitable foundations around the world. When not making films, he teaches Buddhist philosophy throughout Asia, North and South America, Europe and Australia. Although his work schedule requires constant travel, he spends several months each year in strict meditative retreat. Khyentse Norbu’s first encounter with film was as a 19-yearold monk. While travelling from his home to college, he caught a glimpse of a Bollywood epic on TV at an Indian railway station. Soon after, Raymond Steiner (then directing children’s films in India) gave him his first lesson in photography. Khyentse Norbu continued his Buddhist studies, but his interest in film never wavered. He began travelling and teaching, eventually making his way to London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. He studied during the day but it was London’s cinema halls that were his true classroom. In the early 90s, he befriended producer Jeremy Thomas, then in pre-production for Bernardo Bertolucci’s LITTLE BUDDHA. Inspired by their conversations, Khyentse Norbu enrolled in a four-week course at the New York Film Academy. Thomas introduced Khyentse Norbu to Bertolucci who enlisted him as a consultant on LITTLE BUDDHA and cast him in a small role. While working on the film, Khyentse Norbu paid keen attention to Bertolucci, absorbing everything the director had to teach. “He’s almost like my film guru,” said Khyentse Norbu. Both Bertolucci and Thomas encouraged Khyentse Norbu to make his own films. As executive producer, Thomas was instrumental in raising funds for THE CUP. The extensive film library at Khyentse Norbu’s Paro, Bhutan home reveals his eclectic taste. NATURAL BORN KILLERS is filed next to Chinese art film WARM WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE. DIRTY DANCING is filed next to Kurosawa’s DODESKADEN. Among his favourite directors are Tarkovsky, De Sica, Ozu, Satyajit Ray and the new wave of Iranian filmmakers. He is never without the movie schedule of whichever city he finds himself in.

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TRAVELLERS AND MAGICIANS

The two men embark on parallel, if separate, journeys. Their yearning is a common one—for a better and different life. Dondup, delayed by the timeless pace of his village, is forced to hitchhike through the beautiful wild countryside of Bhutan to reach his goal.

Alternate Title

Mpaa rating, travelers and magicians (2003), directed by khyentse norbu.

• AllMovie Rating 7
• User Ratings ( 0 )
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• Orlando Sentinel Roger Moore Pretty enough, but one kind of hopes for a little magic in a movie with "magicians" in its title.
• Seattle Times John Hartl Dondup is the make-or-break role here, and he nails it.
• New York Daily News Jami Bernard Writer-director Khyentse Norbu sees paradise not as the seat of perfection, but as the warmth of a simple, loving community.
• Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea It's transporting, it's magical.
• Dallas Morning News Philip Wuntch It's a leisurely yet resonant film that reinforces the power of cinematic storytelling.
• Houston Chronicle Bruce Westbrook Refreshingly quiet and thoughtful.
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution Bob Townsend A colorful and witty work that doesn't preach so much as gently nudge us to consider the wonders of our existence.
• New York Times Dave Kehr A pleasant, colorful travelogue directed by the Bhutanese lama Khyentse Norbu.
• Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas A film so enchanting one hates to see it come to an end.
• New York Post V.A. Musetto Delightful performances are delivered by all in this ingenious work of cinema that is worth seeing if only for its glorious views of the Himalayas.
• Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman We can glory, for an hour or two, in the splendors of a life based on renunciation -- and then return, without having to renounce anything ourselves, to a life of unrigorous indulgence.
• San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer Visually accomplished and loads of fun.
• Newsday Gene Seymour The scenery is breathtaking, the amateur cast is appealing, and the road trip, though as shaggy and unruly as the vagabond official's haircut, emits a pleasant buzz.
• Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov The Himalayan scenery, majestic mountains, and verdant valleys are as breathtaking and well-shot as one could hope for.
• Slant Magazine Joshua Vasquez A bit too creakingly stiff in its allegory, but the film's refusal to provide simple answers is touchingly appropriate.
• Washington Post Desson Thomson To watch this movie is to be moved not only by an affecting, warmly spirited yarn, but also by the wisdom that seems to waft to us directly from those snow-capped peaks.
• Village Voice Laura Sinagra As the journey progresses, the director conjures comedic, at times uniquely Buddhist tensions.
• Variety David Stratton Pic has been adeptly packaged, with every advantage taken to show off the spectacular locations through which the travelers journey.
• Orlando Weekly Steve Schneider A gentle challenge to the all-American delusion that every citizen of a foreign land would be better off here.
• Kansas City Star Robert W. Butler Pleasant and often beautiful.

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Travellers and Magicians (2003)

Original title: ཆང་ཧུབ་ཐེངས་གཅིག་གི་འཁྲུལ་སྣང.

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A young government official, named Dondup, who is smitten with America (he even has a denim gho) dreams of escaping there while stuck in a beautiful but isolated village. He hopes to connect in the U.S. with a visa out of the country. He misses the one bus out of town to Thimphu, however, and is forced to hitchhike and walk along the Lateral Road to the west, accompanied by an apple seller, a Buddhist monk with his ornate, dragon-headed dramyin, a drunk, a widowed rice paper maker, and his beautiful daughter, Sonam.

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'Travelers And Magicians' Tells The Struggle For Spiritual Identity In The Modern World

(Welcome to A Passage to India , a new series where we explore great works from all over South Asia for unacquainted viewers, all of them available to stream.)

To cinema, he's Khyenste Norbu , New York Film Academy alumnus, consultant to Bertolucci on Little Buddha and Bhutan's premier director. His second feature, Travelers and Magicians , was the first to be shot entirely in the Kingdom; his third, Vara: A Blessing , was the first Bhutanese film in the English language.

To Tibetan and Bhutanese Buddhism however, he's Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche , a reincarnate lama and the grandson of spiritual leader Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, the first supreme head of the Nyingma lineage appointed by none other than the fourteenth and current Dalai Lama. Few filmmakers occupy such a unique cultural space.

It would be natural to think these worlds incompatible. One some level, Norbu himself might agree; such is the tragedy of modernity, captured here on celluloid in ways that attempt to reconcile two warning halves of the soul. Dzongkha-language Travelers and Magicians (2003) tells the tale of a man trapped similarly between realities. A city dweller, appointed to a tiny village in the Kingdom of Bhutan on India's north-eastern border, making his way to America in a tale that feels both fundamentally Buddhist, and yet fundamentally Western. An internal struggle, externalized ethereally, in the form of stories within stories.

Dondup, the Discontented

Bhutan is often considered the world's happiest country — usually by its own metric . Travelers and Magicians opens with a tour of this characteristic joy. A rural happiness, born from breathing in the pure air of the lush-green mountains. A traditional warmth, bouncing between men dressed in colourful gho shooting arrows at targets, not for competition or sport, but for each other's enjoyment. These villagers are simple, but buoyant, partaking in simple rituals for the sake of togetherness. Their happiness is that of neighbors who bid even village newcomers farewell, with gifts of cheese and words of comfort.

One such newcomer, on his way out the door no sooner than he arrives, is Dondup (Tshewang Dendup), who stands apart from the rest of the village. His hair is long. He smokes in secret. His gho is black; it droops, as if neglected. His very presence feels disrespectful. He owns an "I [Heart] New York" t-shirt, which he wears with denims under his traditional garb, and he trades in prayer flags for pictures of models and an Uncle Sam poster, displayed on his wall. His cassette tapes, which he blasts from a characteristically '90s boombox, are all in English. Dondup dreams of a life in America. He waits impatiently for a letter from abroad summoning him to Thimpu, the capital city, where he hopes to acquire a Visa. Unbeknownst to his employers, his new government posting in the village won't last; he knows he's destined for the West, be it as a dishwasher or an apple picker or any job he can find — a step down in status from his current employ, yet several steps up financially.

Condescension is Dondup's calling card. To him, anything is better than the restaurant-less, cinema-less mundanity of the Kingdom's interiors. He is unhappy. He desires luxuries just outside his grasp. It can be argued desire is the cause of his unhappiness, as the central teachings of Buddhism would tell you. Travelers and Magicians however, has no intention of converting anyone to asceticism, least of all its protagonist. Whatever the root of Dondup's sorrows, it's their manifestation that needs correcting; rural simplicity may not be his calling, but he looks down on those who find contentment in the ways of the old-world and its spiritual musings.

When the letter arrives, Dondup rushes to the roadside to hitch a ride to the future. Thimpu is two day's drive, and the city's upcoming religious festival means Dondup isn't the only one waiting for car or depending on the kindness of others. En route to America, the land of his dreams, a place where "they don't even know where Bhutan is," Dondup waits by the road with fellow hitchhikers (a monk, an apple picker, a rice paper salesman and his daughter Sonam) whom he, at first, doesn't allow himself to connect with. Whatever their struggles, whatever their stories, they're simply hurdles to Dondup's journey. Though in being forced to see their humanity, their kindness, and their perspectives up close, this city-dweller bound for technological marvels begins to see the magic around him — not only in the mountains, but in its people.

Norbu's M.O. might be subtle — much of its story hinges on mere glances by Tshewang Dendup, the film's only professional actor — but Travelers and Magicians is deeply affecting. It plays, in itself, like an act of reconciliation, arriving at answers that seek not to bridge impossible physical and cultural gaps, but to guide one as they navigate the journey between them.

Picture-in-Picture

For most other films steeped in religious doctrine, the appearance of a literal preacher — in this case, a Buddhist monk hitchhiking alongside Dondup — would ordinarily spell narrative doom. Writer-director Norbu, however, uses this authorial stand-in for a more esoteric purpose than sermon. Upon recognizing Dondup's irritability (towards the apple-picker, and towards the monk himself), the Buddhist, a cheeky twenty-something with a sparkle in his eye, strums away on his dramyin and tells the tale of two brothers as a parable for Dondup's journey.

Rather than an instructional on morality, the monk's story — broken up each time the group hitches a ride and resuming during breaks and nightfall — is a cautionary tale of the all-consuming nature of desire, should it go unchecked. The sepia-washed apologue plays like a flashback, telling the story of older brother Tashi, a student of magic with his head in the clouds, and younger brother Karma, who envies the opportunities Tashi seems to waste. Fed-up with his brother's squandered potential and desire to escape, and perhaps seeking to replace him, Karma slips a strange herbal mixture into Tashi's drink.

The concoction awakens something deep within the magician-in-training. He begins seeing the world in new hues — shades of blue and green layered over the sepia, as if merging dream with reality — as time begins to accelerate and the heavens pour down on him. Tashi rides a magical horse helter-skelter to escape the pelting rain, going further than he ought to and landing up outside an isolated jungle dwelling that feels plucked from a different era. Stranded mid-forest and with no memory of his path, he knocks on the door. An old woodcutter and his young wife, Deki, take Tashi in, healing his wounds and feeding him until he's ready to leave. He eventually overstays his welcome; Deki draws his gaze just as he draws hers. The young conjurer is far more suited to Deki than her cranky old hsuband, but Tashi's presence is still an intrusion in this mysterious abode.

As time goes on, and as the woodcutter remains silent about the ongoing affair, Tashi's reality begins to exhibit surreal hues once more. Days turn to weeks, and weeks to months, yet time seems to stand still. Tashi's plan to kill the old man and replace him, by poisoning his drink no less, leaves him trapped in a cycle of difficult decisions with results are outside his control. Life in this new world is chaos, and Tashi has no way to return from it.

The dreamlike fable, while thematically similar, acts in direct contrast to Dondup's narrative. The realist approach to the Bhutanese hillside, with wide lenses allowing Dondup to breathe in his surroundings (even though he'd rather be elsewhere) find themselves replaced by long, voyeuristic telephotos as Tashi peers in on rooms, situations and a wife that are not his. The monk's friendly cadence and occasional teasing of the privileged Dondup suggest this "warning" isn't meant to deter the America-bound official, though its be-careful-what-you-wish-for morality allows Dondup to come to his own conclusions.

That is to say, now smitten with the rice paper salesman's daughter after two days on the road, Dondup, like Tashi, is now in a more vulnerable position. As the group travels, any decision Dondup makes affects more than just himself. Every action comes with a weight strapped to it. By choice, or otherwise, Dondup the loner is now part of a community, tethered to those around him.

The Magic of Realism

The monk's phantasmagoric tale features Tashi, a man turning away from the magic of his masters, fighting against the very formalism of his narrative. The skies morph in mysterious ways, as the forest summons sounds and visions of his past. Tashi ignores them, charging swiftly away in lieu of a future he isn't prepared for. Instead, he seeks only a grim reality where he may well murder a man out of base desire and live isolated from society, burdened by his guilt, cut off from the fields of his ancestors —fields that the monk's memory has turned brown.

Dondup's fields, however, are so green you could get lost in them. The skies above him are blue as the ocean — Alan Kozlowski's vivacious cinematography turns the very concept of reality into something dreamlike — though unlike Tashi's eerie surroundings, this natural simplicity is the magic Dondup turns his back on.

The monk's story, of a man whose journey leaves him trapped in a cycle of unkindness, doesn't seek to change Dondup's perspective, but to contextualize it. Dondup's departure is, perhaps, a foregone conclusion, though the selfishness of his journey turns his compatriots into inconveniences. As Dondup charges towards the future, the aged rice paper salesman searches new ways to make a living in a world where he now competes with machines; his daughter Sonam, a teenager, has to leave school in order to help him work. Those left behind by modernity and taking refuge in the simple things communicate their stories to Dondup — directly, soulfully, and humbly. The camera is ever-focused on Dondup's silent response, the vibrant backdrop enveloping him like a colourful echo.

Dondup's annoyance with the apple picker soon turns to camaraderie, though no action of the picker himself is the catalyst. His dismissal of the monk's music and story, and of the salesman's trade, undergo a similar metamorphosis as he sits with them on the back of a truck, his scorn turning slowly to empathy. No high-stakes action Dondup performs, no life-changing decision he makes for the majority of the runtime, reflects this change, though his internal journey is mapped out on the actor's face in every scene. The kindness behind Dondups eyes, once drowned under layers of frustration, floats slowly to the surface, often as he listens in silence. 

For the most part, the film features no background score. Its music is diegetic: the pop songs about escape blaring from Dondup's speakers before they run out of battery, and the monk's calming strings that gradually replace them. As the journey progresses, Dondup's decision to leave grows harder and harder. While alternatives certainly present themselves — Sonam is leaving school to live and work in Dondup's village, and she's clearly taken a liking to him — Dondup's eye remains fixed on his fantasy future. The weight of what he leaves behind, however, has begun to grow.

Nothing, physically, has changed during Dondup's journey. His life has stayed its linear course, en route to a new beginning that may as well be set in stone. What has changed however, in his mere twenty-four hours on the road, is his capacity for kindness. He is now able, and perhaps willing, to see the value in places and people he once ignored. Their journeys may not be as long as his — every character's footwear (if any) gets its due closeup as they alight, showing us what they can afford; only the city-dweller wears sneakers — and their ambitions may not be not as lofty, whether through conditioning or circumstance, but they are still his fellow travelers, whatever their destination.

Whether or not Dondup feels at home in this land, whether or not he feels kinship with its kindly people, their arms will always be open to him. Perhaps his arms will open too.

Travelers and Magicians is available on FilmStruck.