Joao Fleck [Film Festival 02.13.12] drama



Year: 2012
Directors: Deepak Rauniyar
Writers: Abinash Bikram Shah
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Joao Fleck
Rating: 7 out of 10

This unusual film from Nepal comes with a proposal similar to the ones that had been used by masters such as Iñarritu and Altman – several characters, stories that at first might seem loose but lighter on the plot are interconnected and not necessarily a regular flow of the storyline. Instead of focusing the storyline on one character, the main character of the film is the highway itself, with several different characters that are on board of a bus going to Kathmandu.


They get blocked on the road by a "Bahn", which leads them to create a diversion, disguising their bus as a "wedding bus", which would have the ability to pass freely from this and other blocks. While they deal with the difficulties of the highway, they also have difficulties calling their homes, loved ones and they re-examine their life and recent actions…

The highway therefore, is not only about the physical path that they are driving through, but also about the paths that these peculiar characters have chosen in their lives and the outcomes of such choices.

Curiously, the viewer is informed in the credits (which was later commented on the Q&A) that the dialogue was all improvised by the actors themselves, bringing a feeling of realism for the film, that is also enhanced by a somewhat grainy cinematography.

Not a very different film for the regular viewer, given the content and the way that it's shot, however, taking into consideration the fact that it comes from Nepal and that it was finished through crowd funding, with a campaign useing Kickstarter, this makes the film somewhat interesting. All in all, a film that proves its place among the "panorama" section of the Berlinale.

Note: the story about the lieutenant that has 36 hours to get to his wife to have sex and to be able to use the organic medicine that he's been given by a healer in Nepal (that only reveals this almost herculean task after he has drunk it) is by far the one that aroused my curiosity - and provoked laughs in the audience. The film is not strong on the humorous side, but jokes such as this, as well as the ones with the bride and groom, contribute tp making it a lighter film.

You might also like

rhea (10 years ago) Reply

wow...its great to see nepali movie being praised at an international level...eager to watch the movie in nepal....way to go NEPAL.......

Gaurav Kandel (9 years ago) Reply

"Highway is a reflecting mirror of the society " - Gaurav Kandel, View Your Choice- तपाईको सोचाई हाम्रो रोजाई -

Gaurav Kandel, loves writing on several issues and this time makes him travel with the upcoming movie Highway. All he says is after watching it that its really Sweet and you won't be on an illusion whether its Sweet, Sour or Bitter but yes its just you experience it at it's screenings.

http://viewyourchoice.blogspot.com/2012/07/highway-is-reflecting-mirror-of-society.html

Read It :) Love it :) Share it :)

Leave a comment

Your Comment