The Monk and the Gun

2023, Dzongkha Movie

Drama, Comedy

Chalchitra Talks

Winner of the IMDb Audience Choice Award at MAMI, this little film from Bhutan manages to pack in a hard-hitting commentary on politics with humour, without comprising on its simplicity and lack of artifice which stems from the people this film is based on - the simple village folk of Bhutan. In a lot of places, the film would remind you of something like The Gods Must Be Crazy but unlike those films, this film doesn't satirize the villagers and instead carefully protects their innocence on screen from coming across as comical. Similarly, while the cinematography doesn't fail in capturing the breathtaking beauty of Bhutan, it doesn't exoticise it as a mystical land and makes us instead root in the purity of thought of the people living there. One of the best discoveries for me at MAMI this year!

Synopsis: An American travels into Bhutan in search of a valuable antique rifle and crosses paths with a young monk who wanders through the serene mountains, instructed by his teacher to make things right again.