Educational Media Reviews Online

This film, the third in a series by director and producer Stephanie Spray, captures a slice of domestic life in rural Nepal where the anticipation of a beloved son’s return is a metaphor for the tensions between rural and urban life. This is the Gayek family who serves as the anchor for depicting rural life in a Nepal village.

Lacking the quick cuts and frenzied transitions of American commercials, this film offers languid visuals where the lens lingers for extended shots on scenes where the action is minimal at best. Conversation between a husband and wife and his mother follows the natural pace of interactions between people who have long lived—and fought—together. Subtle hints provide clues to the cultural tensions—English-language newspapers advertising easy access to American college programs and clipped discussions dismissing the Communist youth movement which is the source of youthful migration away from village life serve as nominal narrative frames. The title comes from a Nepalese saying, “As long as there’s breath, there’s hope.” As the Gayek family looks every day for their son, Kamal, to return, he becomes the metaphor for these tensions between village and urban life, the hope of return that lives in the nicotine-tinged breaths of his family. His return will decide in some fashion whether this life has viability for the young and ambitious or not.

Recommended for Asian area studies as well as ethnographic programs interested in the intersection of rural life and urban aspirations.