Going to the end of the world, in a tiny village in Bhutan, along the Himalayas, and really learning how to teach: this is the story of Ugyen, the protagonist of “Lunana”, nominated for an Oscar as best foreign film. He immerses us in a simple and wonderful nature, in the midst of authentic and delicate relationships.
Even though Bhutan is considered the country with the highest rate of happiness, Ugyen, a young teacher who lives in the capital Thimphu, is not at all happy with his work. In reality, his goal is to emigrate to Australia to fulfill his dream of being a singer, but he is bound by a government contract that obliges him to exercise, for another year, the profession for which he has studied so much. He is assigned a job in the remote mountain village of Lunana and is forced to accept, even at the insistence of his grandmother, who raised him with many sacrifices and does not want him to waste his promising training path. So he relocates himself in spite of himself to that remote world of 56 people, who live at almost 5,000 meters above sea level.
Ugyen comes into contact with a reality very far from his usual Westernized lifestyle, effectively represented by the headphones that he constantly wears to his ears to listen to music and by the mobile phone inexorably on. Now everything suddenly changes radically. Already the demanding 8-day walk that he has to face to reach the village, totally isolated and devoid of any comfort, imposes unthinkable efforts for him, forced to climb up inaccessible and muddy paths. Since the beginning of the journey, the young man is also quite irritated by the company of the two very helpful and patient villagers who have come to pick him up, showing him in every way how much they take him into consideration precisely because he is a teacher. Ugyen appreciates nothing of what he gradually encounters: neither the uncontaminated landscapes, far from civilization, nor the deep respect and authentic gratitude that his traveling companions show for nature in its connection with the universe, much less the battered and very cold house that they assign to him once they reach their destination. Even the dusty school, devoid of everything, even the blackboard, in which he is supposed to carry out his business is a total disappointment. And obviously the cell phone doesn’t pick up in Lunana.
The young master is tempted to return home immediately, leaving the village on the roof of the world, without electricity and toilets. Although the inhabitants welcomed him with sincere warmth and even devotion, the new teacher seems unable to overcome despair and loneliness. But it will be the children who have waited for him, with a keen desire and expectation, to give him the strength to discover a different reality, absolutely authentic and sincere. Those obedient children, with nice and smiling faces and who have a great desire to learn, welcome him with joy after the winter, in which the village was forcibly isolated completely, because it was submerged by snow. Thus, little by little, the teacher begins to get to know the little ones and the adults of that strange microcosm, who are not perfect, but have a deep and delicate gaze on life, and possess a spiritual strength capable of changing him too. When one of his little students confesses that he would like to be a teacher when he grows up, Ugyen, discovering the reason, recognizes the value of his profession, which he was about to give up: according to the student, in fact, the teacher has the privilege of “touching the future”.
IS precisely this is the fascination of his educational mission, which also many teachers of our world “Civilized” they should find again to teach with passion. The protagonist of Lunana he fully rediscovers this attraction, also thanks to a very pretty girl from the village, who sings “to the universe”, gently perched on the hills near the plateau where the village stands. The film therefore tells a story of rediscovering ourselves and what we have around us, but which we often don’t even see. This is the path of the young master’s soul, who is willing to accept what his new life companions, simple shepherds, heirs of ancient wisdom and religiosity have to teach him. They love spiritual and love songs and respect Tibetan cattle (yaks); a yak will be hosted in the classroom and the kids will take care of it with grateful solicitude, also because with its dried dung you can light the fire to warm up and cook. The same hope that the inhabitants of the town keep in their hearts, even in an apparently so poor environment, far away and ignored by everyone, grows in the “awakened” soul of the protagonist, now forgetting his headphones and mobile phone and finally able to look beyond appearances, to grasp the values of a simple, open and generous existence.
And what about Australia’s dream? It will demonstrate all its cold inconsistency, but the film has the advantage of not ending with a foregone conclusionleaving us in the enchantment of pastoral melodies, rich in sweetness and meaning. Lunana, the village at the end of the world it is therefore a beautiful film, not at all prey to environmental ideology (the villagers realize that the glaciers are retreating, but ask “what is global warming”). It offers the viewer beautiful landscapes, but above all it is a hymn to the value of education. In times when competitions to teach are passed in our country by answering cross-stitch quizzes, this story that comes from the kingdom of Bhutan, nestled between the Himalayan mountains between India and China, makes us understand that even in conditions prohibitive true teacher is “he who touches the future”, that is, he teaches with passion to the adults of tomorrow, also learning from them. Ugyen’s inner growth also suggests a profound truth of every existence: true joy does not coincide with the realization of one’s tenaciously pursued dreams. Rather, one can be truly happy even accepting a simple, even poor life, in which, however, the perceived presence of Something greater than us accompanies us on our daily journey.
