Sports World
FILM: The Cup
DIRECTOR: Khyentse Norbu
STARRING: Lama Chonjor, Orgyen Tobgyal
GRADE: C+
Writer/director Khyentse Norbu's The Cup is the story of four Tibetan
boys studying at a Buddhist monastery in northern India. The monastery is run
by an aging, kindly abbot (Lama Chonjor) and a seemingly stern headmaster, or
geko (Orgyen Tobgyal). As the film begins, the monastery receives two new
students, Palden (Kunsang Nyima), a serious young man in his late teens, and
his nephew Nyima (Pema Tshundup), a boy about 10, both refugees from the
Chinese oppression of their homeland. These two are assigned to room,
respectively, with Lodo (Neten Chokling) and Orgyen (Jamyan Lodro), youngsters
approximately their own ages. As it happens, Lodo and Orgyen are fanatical
soccer fans and soon recruit the two new boys into their scheme for watching
the World Cup finals between Brazil and France.
The Cup wants to make two small but important points. First,
grace involves walking in another man's shoes and often requires sacrifice.
Second, the world is growing smaller and more interrelated. If Buddhism is to
flourish, it must embrace the world, not cloister itself in ancient traditions.
This picture is so sweet of intent, one hates to say anything negative. It
doesn't generate much narrative propulsion, however, and it is so quiet that it
doesn't have much staying power.
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