Educational Media Reviews Online

Pema Tseden’s The Search is made in documentary style, and uninformed viewers could easily mistake it for being one. What the film really is, is a road movie. Two Tibetan filmmakers and a businessman are on a search for actors to perform in an opera they are filming. The opera is Drime Kunden, the tale of a man who sacrifices everything he has, including his possessions, his family, and his sight. Through the course of the film, the travelers talk to people who have lost loved ones. One man they interview speaks of giving his wife to another man who has lost his sight. A woman, who hides her face behind a scarf, seems to be a good fit for the female lead, but she only agrees on the stipulation that her ex-boyfriend be convinced to play opposite her. She goes with the filmmakers to the city to find the man who left her. The stories of lost love culminate with the businessman telling the tale of his first romance as they drive.

Through the auditions for the opera, we see a variety of artistic talents, from singing and dancing, to Chaplin-like comedy. The subtle message of the film is the recognition that the traditional Tibetan culture is disappearing in the face of modernization and other cultural influences. It presents a different Tibet than the popular Western images of mountaintop monasteries. As the first director to film movies entirely in the Tibetan language, Tseden approached this topic obliquely in order to appease Chinese censorship. Because it is in documentary style, with slow, gentle pacing, home video-style footage within the car, and amateur actors, not a minute of the film appears scripted. However, by the conclusion it is difficult not to be moved by the bittersweet nostalgia the characters express for their past experiences and culture.