Tinle: Thilen Lhondup	Karma: Gurgon Kyap
Pema: Lhakpa Tsamchoe	Pasang: Karma Wangel
Norbou: Karma Tensing	Director: Eric Valli

30 Second Bottom Line: An old man fights treacherous trails and deadly storms as he leads a trade caravan through the world's tallest mountains. He is heading the expedition because of his struggle with the grief of losing his son on a recently completed expedition.

Story Line: Set in the mountains of Tibet, we find people who literally live on top of the world. They survive the winter by trading salt for wheat to supplement what they can grow themselves. First a caravan of yaks is lead through the mountains to mine the salt and return to home base. After a brief recuperation period, the herdsmen take another yak caravan to a different area and trade salt for wheat.

The journey is a long and arduous one, meant for young men. When Tinle's (Thilen Lhondup) son is killed on the salt gathering expedition, because he insisted on taking an extremely dangerous shortcut, Tinle blames the death on his son's best friend, Karma (Gurgon Kyap), who was with him. Karma is next in line to assume the role of village chief from Tinle, now that Tinle's son is dead and the grandson Pasang is such a young boy. The widow Pema (Lhakpa Tsamchoe) does not blame Karma, but she will not side with him because of her love for her dead husband's father, Tinle.

When Tinle decides to lead a trade caravan, he has considerable difficulty getting people to go with him because his legs, and those of his peers, have seen their best climbing days many years ago. He convinces his other son Norbou (Karma Tensing) to "lead" them, but he has been in a monastery since he was eight years old and knows nothing about the mountains. Tinle believes in the old customs linked to God to determine when they should depart, while Karma thinks that the sooner they leave the better. Although Karma and his group leave four days before Tinle and his posse, the old man catches up with them by taking a risky shortcut.

By the time the two groups reunite, a storm may be approaching that could result in death for everyone. Facing them are weather conditions similar to those described in the book about Mt. Everest, Into Thin Air.

Tell Me More About It: Director Eric Valli has lived in this area of Tibet for twenty years and has done a considerable amount photography for National Geographic. His knowledge of the people and the area makes this movie literally and figuratively shine. The characters are based on friends of Valli's. The cast of mostly non-professional actors comes across with a documentary feel in a story that has been embellished to create drama.

When people lose something dear to them or they must give up long held power and leadership, tension is a natural occurrence. Overlay this with seeing the unique homes the people live in and how they fight to survive in this beautiful and difficult environment and the experience is both enlightening and fascinating. Just watching the angle of incline that the caravan of people and their yaks must travel literally takes your breath away. Narrow, rocky trails run along steep drops to a lake that is pristine and azure blue.

This is indeed a special place that was filmed only after long and careful consideration. Neither director Valli nor the people of the region want this area to become a tourist destination and it's unlikely that it will because special passes are needed to travel here and you must be able to speak the local language.

This is a film appropriate for children ten or older. The soundtrack has won awards in addition to the film itself being nominated for best foreign film at the Academy Awards.

There was a tad more melodrama than was really needed near the end of the film. This is more than compensated for by the strong and interesting story set against a backdrop that is as magnificent as any thing you've ever seen on the Discovery Channel, any National Geographic special or IMAX film format. The combination of nature's beauty blended with learning a bit about the culture of a people that most of us know little or nothing of, makes Himalaya a film you'll remember for a long time.