Phorpa

Kyentse Norbu

 

Stop us if you've heard this one before, but the directorial debut of Tibetan Lama Khyentse Norbu, The Cup, is an everyday tale about monks in exile who become obsessed by the 1998 World Cup. The final is fast approaching, and 14-year-old Orygen is desperate to see France win. He manages to carry the rest of the monastery along with the sheer sweep of his enthusiasm and there's only one drawback: how will the monks be able to watch the match?

The film is set in the foothills of the Himalayas, the same location recreated in such lush, opulent fashion in Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus, but the image that Norbu offers of monastic life is altogether more down to earth. To outsiders who imagine that Tibetan monks live an impossibly austere life, the film can't help but come as a surprise. The youngsters under the control of their strict taskmaster, Geko, are mischievous and playful.

All the actors in The Cup were real monks studying at a college of Buddhist philosophy. None had any professional experience. As the producers note, "dialogue was prompted and memorised on the spot, and most scenes were completed within three takes or less - a testament to the actors' monastic discipline and concentration".

Director Norbu has surely the most unusual CV of any film-maker in Cannes. Recognised as the incarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820-1892) - a religious reformer and saint who is revered for his part in protecting Buddhism in Tibet in the late nineteenth century - Norbu's training is infinitely more rigorous than that given in even the most demanding film schools. He spends several months each year in strict meditative retreat.

In its own oblique way, The Cup touches on the homesickness and nostalgia that the Tibetan monks in exile feel, and on what nationalism means to them. They watch Zidane and Petit playing football with wide-eyed awe. Two civilised nations fighting over a football in the hope of winning a cup - could there be anything more bizarre? Geoffrey Macnab