Himalaya: The Place Wind Dwells

VANCOUVER PREMIERE ► Writer-director Jeon Soo-Il’s follow-up to the award-winning With a Girl of Black Soil is a superbly scenic drama starring Choi Min-Sik, best known for his lead roles in Park Chan-Wook’s Old Boy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. He plays Choi, a recently divorced, quietly desperate Korean executive. After the death of an illegal worker from Nepal, Choi resolves to deliver the man’s ashes to his family in a remote Himalayan village. What transpires is a high-altitude journey of discovery for which Choi is hardly prepared — and not only because he arrives inappropriately garbed in business suit and street shoes, can’t speak the language, and falls prey to nosebleeds and headaches from altitude sickness. “Awe-inspiring mountain scenery. . . The narrative, unfolding in stark long shots without any musical accompaniment, captures the inner transformation of a brittle urban dweller, yet it also contests the idyllic schemes of stories about ‘journeys from the city’” (Karlovy Vary I.F.F.). “A minimalist, yet grand tale featuring some truly breathtaking scenery. . . Poetic, beautiful and honest, it makes for an immersive experience, and confirms Jeon Soo-Il as one of the most talented directors working in the Korean independent film scene” (James Mudge, BeyondHollywood.com). Colour, 35mm, in English, Korean and Nepali with English subtitles. 95 mins.