 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
1999 / Nepal-Japan / Color / 105min.
| * 2000 | San Francisco International Film Festival |
| * 2000 | Vancouver International Film Festival |
| * 2001 |
Academy Awards Consideration (Nepal) in Best Foreign Language Film |
|
|
|
|
|
[SYNOPSIS]
A young couple lives in Kathmandu. Dipak works as a security guard and together with his wife, Saraswati, a virtuous and religious woman, and two daughters, leads a modest but happy life.
Their only concern is that they have not yet been blessed with a son. One day, a sadhu (hermit) appears before Saraswati and advises her that only the goddess Tripura can grant their wish. She follows the advice hesitantly, but eventually, a son is born. The couple is over the moon, however, their joy is short-lived for a few weeks later, the infant dies.
Agonized and in despair, Saraswati takes to her bed; she even takes her frustration out on her mother-in-law who comes to minister her, which ends up jeopardizing their relationship. The once-happy family begins to look doomed.
Then the sadhu advises Saraswati again to go see a jhankrini, a spirit medium of the Tripura goddess. The one Saraswati goes for a treatment is named Gita, who also has her own history. As a young woman she had been married off to a mentally disturbed young man who took his own life in the end. Gita had a nervous breakdown but emerged out of it as a jhankrini.
The trouble begins when Gita becomes infatuated with the well-built body of Dipak. Saraswati's jealousy for Gita pushes her mind over the brink and into depression again. Finally, they decide onto having one more ritual treatment by Gita. But it turns into a fierce fight between two women...
[COMMENTARY]
Shamanism still has deep roots throughout Asia, continuing to play a vital role in societies throughout the continent. In Nepal, practicing mediums are called jhankrini and are believed to have special powers enabling them to tap into the supernatural forces that rule the universe.
They may be born with the gift, but they must also endure rigorous training. In Nepal, the jhankrini still treat the sick and the misfortunate, continuing to provide an alternative to Western medical science. MASK OF DESIRE portrays the conflict between a young couple who lead a modern life and a jhankrini, played out against the backdrop of Nepal's religious traditions.
The first half of the film depicts modern family life and relationships in Nepal: parents and children, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Even Nepal has not been spared the ravages of modernization which diminish the powers of traditional values. Religion is also being replaced by "rational thinking" and traditional ceremonies and superstitious beliefs are waning along with religious faith. The conflicts unfolding everywhere in Nepal between the new and the old is the central theme of the film.
The second half of the film portrays a love triangle between the young couple and a jhankrini. As a bond gradually forms between the husband-patient and the jhankrini, jealousy takes root between the wife and the medium. In the last scene, their tension explodes into a fierce battle between the two, who fight as though they are both possessed. The film offers no judgment as to whether one of them is really possessed by a demon, or whether the fight is caused by jealousy alone. What is really at stake in the contest, is the collision of the old and the new, and the personal trauma of the jhankrini. The result is an extremely compelling, unique film.
Tsering Rhitar Sherpa is a young director who studied filmmaking in India and has made a name in Nepal with the documentary films he has been shooting since 1994. His documentary, THE SPIRIT DOESN'T COME ANYMORE, introduced in Japan, is about a spiritual medium in exile. The film focuses on the changes in modern Tibetan society, the collision of traditional and modern values, the old and the new, playing out the conflict between a father and his son. MASK OF DESIRE, his first feature film, builds on the themes he explored in his documentary. His brilliant visual sensibility and the steady directorial skills he acquired through his documentary work serve him well in this assured debut. |
|
|
by Kyouicihro MURAYAMA
|
The Message from the director :
I am always disturbed by all the rituals and beliefs which are so much part of my society that we tend to take them for granted. Since they are so much intermingled with everyday life, we are in a way numb to the spiritual stimulations all around us. Yet people from outside Nepal (& Asia) exoticize a nd romanticize this, thus reinforcing its continuation. I feel that the religion/belief, (even if it's good by itself), is by nature extremely abstract, and therefore is susceptible to the manipulation of those having vested interest. This is happening not only in Nepal but all over the world. Therefore the film attempts to question the belief/superstition, and the danger it can pose if it's misdirected, yet not ruling out its (religion's) credibility-which is beyond the scope of the film. |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Tsering Rhitar Sherpa, director :
Born in 1968, he studied filmmaking at the Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, India in 1992. In 1994, he filmed a documentary film called TEARS OF TORTURE featuring Dalai Lama in Dharamsala where Tibetan Government in exile had been set up. He filmed a documentary SHOWER OF VIRTUE AND GOODNESS in 1996. His new documentary is THE SPIRIT DOESN'T COME ANYMORE ('97). Tsering Rhitar Sherpa's documentaries have been shown in Leipzig Dokfestival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, and Focus on Asia-Fukuoka International Film Festival. In 1997, he won Best Film Award at South Asian Documentary Film Festival held in Kathmandu.
MASK OF DESIRE is his first fictional feature film.
Staff :
Director / Producer / Writer of the Original Story / Screenwriter : Tsering Rhitar Sherpa
Executive Producer : Makoto Ueda (NHK)
Associate Producer : Keiko Iino (NHK ENTERPRISES 21,INC)
Producer : Lobsang Tsultrim, Ang Kusang Sherpa, Sampa Lama
Writer of the original story / Screenwriter : Kesang Tseten
Director of Photography : Ranjan Palit
Prodction Designer : Santosh Paudel, Rajesh Shrestha
Music composed and directed by : Nhyoo Bajracharya
Cast :
Saraswati : Gauri Malla
Gita : Mithila Sharma
Dipak : Ratan Subedi
Attendant : Nirmal Pyakurel
Mother : Rama Thapalia
|
|
|
