For those who have spent “Seven Years in Tibet” with Brad Pitt or await the theatrical release of “Kundun,” Martin Scorsese’s upcoming film biography of the Dalai Lama, “Tibet: On the Edge of Change” is an “extra credit” video.
Time magazine recently devoted a cover story to renewed mainstream fascination with Buddhism and the rise of so-called “Tibet Chic.” There is nothing chic on view in “On the Edge of Change,” which is 58 minutes in Tibet.
Distributed by Chicago-based Questar Video, this often mesmerizing program is instead a barley-and-yak-meat look at this beleaguered country.
It views the stunning and forbidding topography, profiles its close-knit people and celebrates its culture that is, the blissful narrator states, “dedicated to the belief that by their own effort, human beings could overcome ignorance, greed and hatred, and live instead by generosity and love.”
Tibet, the isolated and mountainous “roof of the world” (the average elevation is 16,000 feet), is a country of interdependence whose people survive through “cooperation and the kindness of each other.” Tibetan women, it is said, “are considered the most emancipated in Asia” who work alongside men in the fields, rule the home and must be consulted on all matters.
We see villagers farming, cooking and making pilgrimages to Buddhist festivals. Perhaps the most exhilarating sight is the James Bondian way in which they cross between mountains by hooking themselves up to a steel cable and pulley system.
The final portion of “On the Edge of Change” is devoted to China’s occupation of Tibet and the social and environmental havoc it has wrought. Ancient monasteries have been destroyed, the Holy City is now home to shopping centers, pool halls and karaoke bars, and Tibetan students are compelled to learn the Chinese language if they hope to get a job.
Meanwhile, the Chinese desecrate the land, strip-mining mountainsides, clearing 250,000 square acres of forest and constructing a nuclear waste dump on the shore of Tibet’s largest lake.
The program ends on an urgent but hopeful note with quotes from the country’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama: “No matter how hard the winds of evil may blow, the flame of truth can never be extinguished.”
“Tibet: On the Edge of Change” retails for $29.95 and can be ordered by calling 800-544-8422.
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