Tharlo

In the logic of the film, for the camera to move at all would feel like a betrayal of its contemplative hunger.

Torn between mountains and karaoke bars, Tharlo looks as lost as his lamb: a parallel delicately developed in this warm, wise fable of uncertainty.

For the most part, this is a beautifully judged picture from a director to note.

As a bit of anthropology offering a glimpse into Tibetan life today, it’s perfectly serviceable.

The glacially paced film is ultimately more interesting for its ethnographic and technical aspects than its rudimentary storyline, although the marvelous deadpan performance by Nyima, an acclaimed Tibetan theater performer, provides a much-needed humanistic quality.

Tharlo instead opts for fleeting charm and shaggy humanism, until the narrative takes a grim turn that’s both trite and sexist. The bottom drops out of the movie, leaving its interest almost exclusively ethnographic.