The Cup
From Sunday 14 June 2009
The Cup
Prayer. Meditation. Rituals. . . Soccer?
A film by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche aka Khyentse Norbu.
Filmed at Chokling monastery in the Indian Himalayas. 2000.
Prayer. Meditation. Rituals. . . Soccer?
A film by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche aka Khyentse Norbu.
Filmed at Chokling monastery in the Indian Himalayas. 2000.
Sunday 14 June at 6.15pm
At Labia on Orange
Book with Labia at 021 424 5927
Ticket R40 includes a glass of wine or fruit juice after the screening
Running time 94 minutes
World soccer fever sweeps into a remote Himalayan monastery and centuries-old traditions are threatened. The young monks will do just about anything to watch the final match, posing a unique challenge to the venerable lamas in charge. An engaging tale of colliding cultures, midnight escapes and heart-warming solutions.
Based on a 95% true story, The Cup is filmed by Buddhist monk Khyentse Norbu from Bhutan. Although Norbu never received formal training in filmmaking, he served as an apprentice under Bernardo Bertolucci in Little Buddha, and received his cinematic training by watching many films.
In the beginning, a group of red and saffron-robed trainees kicking around a Coke can, soccer style. The schoolmaster breaks up the game and retrieves the can, which soon becomes part of a Coke-can shrine/incense holder for the Buddha—one of many connections between the sacred and the secular world.
If a problem can be solved, why be unhappy?
If a problem cannot be solved, what’s the use of being unhappy?
A few bits of Buddhist wisdom are incorporated into the story, but Norbu’s tight constructed film is impressive. The ambiguous ending is clever. "What’s all the fuss about endings?”
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