• Latest
  • Trending
Shambhala review

Shambhala Review: Nepal’s First Major Fest Entry Frustrates and Rewards

Without a Dawn Review

Without a Dawn Review: Introspection in a Cabin of Shadows

The Correspondent Review

The Correspondent Review: Richard Roxburgh’s Tour de Force

Bogieville Review

Bogieville Review: Low-Budget Ingenuity and Flawed Execution

Slow Horses

Slow Horses Rides Back on 24 September With Season 5

5 hours ago
A Minecraft Movie

SXSW Panel Reveals How Minecraft Movie Crafted a $948 M Blockbuster

5 hours ago
Ollie Madden

Netflix Poaches Film4 Chief Ollie Madden to Supercharge U.K. Movie Slate

5 hours ago
Mariska Hargitay

Hargitay’s ‘My Mom Jayne’ Lifts the Curtain on a Hollywood Tragedy

5 hours ago
Aureole – Wings of Hope Review

Aureole – Wings of Hope Review: Precision Platforming with a Divine Twist

Coastal Review

Coastal Review: Intimate Performances, Tepid Momentum

The Dark Money Game

The Dark Money Game Review: How Secret Funds Warped Democracy

Call of the Void Review

Call of the Void Review: Atmospheric Chills and Lingering Questions

Dovey's Promise Review

Dovey’s Promise Review: One Woman’s Stand Against Injustice

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Gazettely Review Guidelines
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
GAZETTELY
  • Home
  • Movie and TV News
    Slow Horses

    Slow Horses Rides Back on 24 September With Season 5

    A Minecraft Movie

    SXSW Panel Reveals How Minecraft Movie Crafted a $948 M Blockbuster

    Ollie Madden

    Netflix Poaches Film4 Chief Ollie Madden to Supercharge U.K. Movie Slate

    Mariska Hargitay

    Hargitay’s ‘My Mom Jayne’ Lifts the Curtain on a Hollywood Tragedy

    frankenstein 2025

    Fans Push for Big-Screen Run After Netflix Drops Frankenstein Teaser

    Blake Lively Justin Baldoni

    Judge Faces New Twist as Lively Seeks to Trim Lawsuit Against Baldoni

    Jacob Elordi

    Elordi’s POW Drama Leads to Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights

    Paramount

    Paramount Sets July 2 Shareholder Meeting as Skydance Vote Looms

    Maggie Lawson

    Psych Alum Maggie Lawson to Lead CBS’s Boston Blue

  • Movie and TV Reviews
    The Correspondent Review

    The Correspondent Review: Richard Roxburgh’s Tour de Force

    Bogieville Review

    Bogieville Review: Low-Budget Ingenuity and Flawed Execution

    Coastal Review

    Coastal Review: Intimate Performances, Tepid Momentum

    The Dark Money Game

    The Dark Money Game Review: How Secret Funds Warped Democracy

    Call of the Void Review

    Call of the Void Review: Atmospheric Chills and Lingering Questions

    Dovey's Promise Review

    Dovey’s Promise Review: One Woman’s Stand Against Injustice

    The Balcony Movie Review

    The Balcony Movie Review: A Philosophical Perch on Human Transience

    What It Feels Like for a Girl Season 1 Review

    What It Feels Like for a Girl Season 1 Review: Before Trans Visibility Had a Name

    Bullet Train Explosion Review

    Bullet Train Explosion Review: Bureaucracy, Bombs, and the Weight of Duty

  • Game Reviews
    Without a Dawn Review

    Without a Dawn Review: Introspection in a Cabin of Shadows

    Aureole – Wings of Hope Review

    Aureole – Wings of Hope Review: Precision Platforming with a Divine Twist

    Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Brushes with Death Review

    Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Brushes with Death Review: A Painter’s Tale in Bohemia

    Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo Review

    Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo Review: Guiding Spirits with Style and Sincerity

    Blacksmith Master Review

    Blacksmith Master Review: The Satisfying Grind of Metal and Management

    Labyrinth Of The Demon King Review

    Labyrinth Of The Demon King Review: Unforgiving, Unforgettable Horror

    Cubic Odyssey Review

    Cubic Odyssey Review: An Ambitious Architect’s Space Dream

    Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Review

    Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Review: A Song of Systems and Sorrows

    To a T Review

    To a T Review: Finding Perfection in an Imperfect Shape

  • The Bests
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Movie and TV News
    Slow Horses

    Slow Horses Rides Back on 24 September With Season 5

    A Minecraft Movie

    SXSW Panel Reveals How Minecraft Movie Crafted a $948 M Blockbuster

    Ollie Madden

    Netflix Poaches Film4 Chief Ollie Madden to Supercharge U.K. Movie Slate

    Mariska Hargitay

    Hargitay’s ‘My Mom Jayne’ Lifts the Curtain on a Hollywood Tragedy

    frankenstein 2025

    Fans Push for Big-Screen Run After Netflix Drops Frankenstein Teaser

    Blake Lively Justin Baldoni

    Judge Faces New Twist as Lively Seeks to Trim Lawsuit Against Baldoni

    Jacob Elordi

    Elordi’s POW Drama Leads to Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights

    Paramount

    Paramount Sets July 2 Shareholder Meeting as Skydance Vote Looms

    Maggie Lawson

    Psych Alum Maggie Lawson to Lead CBS’s Boston Blue

  • Movie and TV Reviews
    The Correspondent Review

    The Correspondent Review: Richard Roxburgh’s Tour de Force

    Bogieville Review

    Bogieville Review: Low-Budget Ingenuity and Flawed Execution

    Coastal Review

    Coastal Review: Intimate Performances, Tepid Momentum

    The Dark Money Game

    The Dark Money Game Review: How Secret Funds Warped Democracy

    Call of the Void Review

    Call of the Void Review: Atmospheric Chills and Lingering Questions

    Dovey's Promise Review

    Dovey’s Promise Review: One Woman’s Stand Against Injustice

    The Balcony Movie Review

    The Balcony Movie Review: A Philosophical Perch on Human Transience

    What It Feels Like for a Girl Season 1 Review

    What It Feels Like for a Girl Season 1 Review: Before Trans Visibility Had a Name

    Bullet Train Explosion Review

    Bullet Train Explosion Review: Bureaucracy, Bombs, and the Weight of Duty

  • Game Reviews
    Without a Dawn Review

    Without a Dawn Review: Introspection in a Cabin of Shadows

    Aureole – Wings of Hope Review

    Aureole – Wings of Hope Review: Precision Platforming with a Divine Twist

    Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Brushes with Death Review

    Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Brushes with Death Review: A Painter’s Tale in Bohemia

    Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo Review

    Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo Review: Guiding Spirits with Style and Sincerity

    Blacksmith Master Review

    Blacksmith Master Review: The Satisfying Grind of Metal and Management

    Labyrinth Of The Demon King Review

    Labyrinth Of The Demon King Review: Unforgiving, Unforgettable Horror

    Cubic Odyssey Review

    Cubic Odyssey Review: An Ambitious Architect’s Space Dream

    Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Review

    Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Review: A Song of Systems and Sorrows

    To a T Review

    To a T Review: Finding Perfection in an Imperfect Shape

  • The Bests
No Result
View All Result
GAZETTELY
No Result
View All Result
Shambhala review

Geometry Survivor Review: Intense Twin-Stick Therapy with a Catch

The Rise and Fall of Sony's Live Service Games

Home Entertainment Movies

Shambhala Review: Nepal’s First Major Fest Entry Frustrates and Rewards

Losing Yourself in Nepal's Rugged Beauty

Arash Nahandian by Arash Nahandian
1 year ago
in Entertainment, Movies, Reviews
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on PinterestShare on WhatsAppShare on Telegram

Nepali director Min Bahadur Bham brings his homeland into the cinematic spotlight with Shambhala, the first film from the small Himalayan country to compete at a top-tier festival like Berlin. After honing his craft with the intimate family drama The Black Hen, Bham goes bigger and bolder here. We’re treated to the sweeping vistas of Nepal’s mountains as the backdrop for a surprisingly progressive romantic epic.

At the heart of the story is Pema, played with quiet strength by newcomer Thinley Lhamo. Newly married to village trader Tashi in a traditional polyandrous union, their domestic bliss turns tragic when Tashi vanishes amidst gossip questioning the paternity of Pema’s expected child. Facing scorn yet determined to reunite with her true love, Pema saddles up her steadfast horse Namkha and sets out on a daring journey across the very heavens Tashi once traversed.

Guiding her way is Tashi’s brother Karma, a devoted monk struggling between spiritual duty and earthly attachments. Through piercing snowstorms and winding mountain passes, the odd couple slowly bond as truths emerge that may unravel more than just the mystery of Tashi’s disappearance. Culminating in scenes of elemental beauty, Shambhala ultimately rewards those willing to surrender to its unhurried grace.

An Unlikely Pilgrimage

At the heart of Shambhala is Pema, a headstrong village woman played with captivating grace by newcomer Thinley Lhamo. She shocks her traditional Himalayan community by entering into a polyandrous marriage with three brothers from the village’s prominent farming family.

While unconventional to Western eyes, such plural unions help address the lack of women in these remote regions. Pema only has eyes for the handsome firstborn Tashi, while his brother Karma lives at the local monastery.  Their sibling bond strains upon the arrival of the petulant youngest, adolescent Dawa, whose schoolboy crush on Pema causes no shortage of domestic tension.

After Tashi leaves to trade goods over hazardous mountain passes, lonely Pema finds herself the target of slut-shamingvillage gossip. Falsely accused of having an affair with Dawa’s teacher, she soon discovers she’s pregnant with Tashi’s child. But the damage is done. Word reaches Tashi about her alleged infidelity and he vanishes amidst shame and heartbreak somewhere along his homeward journey.

With scarcely more than her wits, her wisdom, and her steadfast horse Namkha, Pema sets out on an epic quest to track Tashi down. She aims to reclaim her good name and convince her lost love to return. Karma joins despite abandoning his monastic duties, partly out of family obligation and partly due to his awakening affection for his sister-in-law. Through one breathtaking landscape after another, director Bham transforms this couple’s unfolding emotional and spiritual voyage into a soaring testament to resilience in the face of injustice.

Love and Liberation in the Shadow of Everest

Beyond its sweeps of visual splendor, Shambhala examines timeless and universal themes of love, virtue, and the search for happiness. Pema and Tashi’s romance, while clouded by doubt, serves as an anchor. Their journey personifies the struggle to reconcile societal expectations with personal truths.

Shambhala Review

This is especially pronounced regarding the film’s feminist undertones. Early on, Pema’s wise father observes his free-spirited daughter can “do the work of both men and women.” Yet she soon endures the cruelty of the village rumor mill, a double standard where the burden of proving her innocence solely rests on Pema. Director Bham provocatively suggests the Buddhist tenets binding these communities perhaps fall short ensuring gender equality.

Juxtaposed is the ethnographic flavor with which Bham examines the region’s cultural rites. From trading caravans of wooly yaks along precarious cliffs to elaborately garbed monks debating philosophy in candlelit halls, he casts an intimate, non-judgmental eye studying lives foreign yet familiar. Magic interweaves through prophetic dreams and visions tied to Tibetan spirituality, including the mythical land of Shambhala itself.

Bham’s artistic approach mirrors this contrast between the tangible and the symbolic. He foregoes rapid cutting in favor of long static takes, some running three to four minutes with no cuts. The camera patiently pans across the vista, alternatively opening scenes up to the vast majesty of mountain peaks before zeroing in on the nuances of a lingering glance or slight curl of the lips. It’s an immersive experience certain to infuriate some yet enthrall those seeking a transportive escape.

Pema – The Beating Heart of Shambhala

While the Nepali landscape stuns in Shambhala, the true soul of the film is newcomer Thinley Lhamo as Pema. The camera loves Lhamo, whether she’s cradling baby goats, making steamed buns for her trio of husbands, or embarking on a death-defying mountain passage atop her noble horse Namkha. Technical limitations of Bham’s long extended takes require performers to live fully in the moment instead of relying on later editing tricks. Lhamo rises to the immense challenge, conveying silent strength and grace with each subtle shift of her eyes.

Shambhala Review

As gossip wrongly maligns Pema’s virtue and Tashi questions her fidelity, Lhamo externalizes the injustice through small gestures – a slight drop of the shoulders, a heavier gait up the mountain pass, fingers absently running through her hair. Yet her innate goodness persists no matter the indignities inflicted upon her, whether by scheming villagers or occasionally dubious in-laws. Audiences ride along feeling every spark of hope, each wound of betrayal, ultimately willing Pema to reclaim her good name.

By the final act, Bham suggests Pema herself has evolved into something more enlightened through her determination. She appears to channel the Buddhist teachings bound so intrinsically with these Eastern cultures yet so often weaponized exclusively against women like herself. As Shambhala arrives at its enigmatic yet empowering conclusion, Lhamo ensures we depart every bit as transformed as her emblematic heroine Pema.

An Imperfect Yet Rewarding Journey

Shambhala makes no apologies for what it is – a visually resplendent, defiantly unhurried immersion into an seldom-glimpsed world. Nepali director Bham purposefully tosses rapid-fire editing techniques aside, instead allowing scenes to breathe and unfold at their own pace. This meditative approach rewards patient viewers with an intimate voyage exploring the extremes of both environment and emotion.

Shambhala Review

Central to its success lies Thinley Lhamo’s raw yet affecting lead performance as the resilient Pema. By experiencing the injustice she endures, audiences access larger truths about virtue, community, and gender roles in traditional Himalayan life. Bham suggests spiritual freedom perhaps arrives not from blindly accepting external beliefs but from looking inward and determining one’s own path.

Make no mistake – lovers of conventional three-act cinematic structure may bristle at the leisurely proceedings. Yet fans of art house fare and exploratory cinema will discover much to enjoy. Shambhala works best taken on its own terms – an imperfect tone poem celebrating the redemptive power of the human spirit against landscapes as divinely breathtaking as the journey is demanding. For such patient viewers, this deliberately-paced Nepali epic offers rewards as rich as its gorgeous vistas.

The Review

Shambhala

8 Score

Shambhala requires patience to unlock its visual poetry and intimate exploration of an unseen world. Those willing to surrender to its unhurried pace will discover a film both sweepingly gorgeous and thematically profound.

PROS

  • Breathtaking cinematography showing the beauty of Nepal
  • Captivating lead performance by Thinley Lhamo
  • Unique glimpse into unfamiliar Himalayan culture and traditions
  • Thoughtful themes related to gender roles, spirituality, redemption
  • Ambitious and poetic artistic vision by director

CONS

  • Very slow, meditative pacing that tests viewer patience
  • Overly long running time of 150 minutes
  • Plot can be thin and meandering at times
  • May confuse viewers unfamiliar with Tibetan Buddhism
  • Uneven tonal shifts between ethnographic study and melodrama

Review Breakdown

  • Overall 0
Tags: DramaFeaturedKarma Wangyal GurungMin Bahadur BhamShambhalaSonam TopdenTenzing DalhaThinley Lhamo
Previous Post

Geometry Survivor Review: Intense Twin-Stick Therapy with a Catch

Next Post

The Rise and Fall of Sony’s Live Service Games

Try AI Movie Recommender

Gazettely AI Movie Recommender

This Week's Top Reads

  • Mountainhead Review

    Mountainhead Review: Deepfakes and Deep Trouble

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Boglands Review: Shadows and Whispers in the Irish Mist

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Death Valley Review: A Witty Welsh Wander into Cosy Crime

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The Librarians: The Next Chapter Season 1 Review – Bridging Eras with Spellbinding Charm

    25 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The Better Sister Season 1 Review: Not Quite a Killer Thriller

    16 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • MobLand Season 1 Review: Family Ties and Underworld Intrigues

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nine Puzzles Season 1 Review: Puzzle Pieces, Pain, and Police Procedurals

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Must Read Articles

Bullet Train Explosion Review
Movies

Bullet Train Explosion Review: Bureaucracy, Bombs, and the Weight of Duty

20 hours ago
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Review
Reviews Games

Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Review: A Song of Systems and Sorrows

3 days ago
Stick Season 1 Review
TV Shows

Stick Season 1 Review: Owen Wilson Drives a Heartfelt, Flawed Dramedy

3 days ago
Destination X Review
Entertainment

Destination X Review: A Game of Veiled Realities

4 days ago
Earnhardt Review
Entertainment

Earnhardt Review: The Anatomy of a NASCAR Titan

4 days ago
Loading poll ...
Coming Soon
Who is the best director in the horror thriller genre?

Gazettely is your go-to destination for all things gaming, movies, and TV. With fresh reviews, trending articles, and editor picks, we help you stay informed and entertained.

© 2021-2024 All Rights Reserved for Gazettely

What’s Inside

  • Movie & TV Reviews
  • Game Reviews
  • Featured Articles
  • Latest News
  • Editorial Picks

Quick Links

  • Home
  • About US
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Review Guidelines

Follow Us

Facebook X-twitter Youtube Instagram
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Movies
  • Entertainment News
  • Movie and TV Reviews
  • TV Shows
  • Game News
  • Game Reviews
  • Contact Us

© 2024 All Rights Reserved for Gazettely

Go to mobile version