If you saw The Saltmen of Tibet, a 1997 German documentary, you will not be surprised by the rugged life of Tibetans portrayed in Himalaya, a French film subtitled L’enfance d’un chef (The Infancy of a Chief); the film is known as Caravan in Canada. The director is Eric Valli, who lived in the region for several years, assisted in the filming of Seven Years in Tibet (1998), and now provides a drama that bring the documentary to life while serving as an ethnographic portrait of Tibetan customs. Himalaya is set in the Dolpo region of Nepal among a Tibetan people (many of the unprofessional actors are Tibetan refugees) who survive in the snow-bound mountains on grain, but the grain produced during the short growing season is insufficient, so they must go miles on foot along with their yaks to trade local salt in order to store up a supply of grain and other necessities. When the film begins, the latest caravan arrives in the community without the leader, who died trying to take a shortcut. Who will lead the final caravan before the community becomes snowbound for the winter? Karma (played by Gurgon Kyap), who led the caravan back, insists that he alone has the ability to lead the next, but Tinle (played by Thinlen Lhondup), the aging father of the former caravan leader, does not want the leadership role to pass to Karma. His third son Tsering (played by Karma Wangiel), who is being groomed for the role, is much too young. His second son Norbou (played by Karma Tenzing Nyima Lama) is a lama, who has remained in the Buddhist temple to learn the sacred arts, so he has no experience. Tinle startles everyone by deciding that he will come out of retirement after a ten-year absence to lead the caravan, but the younger men stick with Karma, so Tinle mobilizes the older members of the community to come out of retirement as well, and he pressures Norbou and Tsering (whom he has the lamas christen with the new name of Pasang in preparation for his eventual role as village chief) to join him. When will the month-long caravan start? The lamas make astrological calculations and come up with a date two weeks hence. Karma insists that the timing is unrealistic, given the inevitability of blizzards, so he leads his group onward about one week earlier. Tinle insists on taking his group on the astrologically appointed date, but to catch up with the first group he takes a shortcut. Much of the film demonstrates how the caravan taxes human endurance, reminiscent of the French film Wages of Fear (1953), which William Friedkin remade into Sorcerer (1977). Tinle’s persistence prevails many times when members of his group plead that they cannot go on and want to go back. Nevertheless, Tinle surprises everyone by catching up with Karma’s group, which is resting for a couple of days to make the last leg of the trek. However, Karma and Tinle again are at odds, underscoring a conflict between traditionalist Tinle and empiricist Karma. Tinle throws salt crystals into a fire; when they do not crackle, according to tradition, he insists that the gods want the trek to proceed without delay. Karma insists on another day of rest, but Tinle moves forward. However, Tinle’s group encounters a blizzard, Tinle contracts pneumonia, and he falls on the snow so far behind the group that he is alone for hours. Soon, Karma’s group advances, finds Tinle, and Karma carries Tinle through the blizzard. When the snow stops and the two groups set up camp, Tinle knows that he is dying. He then declares that Karma is the new leader and expires soon after. At one point during the caravan Tinle asks Norbou why, after initially refusing, he decided to join the caravan after all. Norbou responds with wisdom that serves to explain much about Tibetan culture: “When faced with two paths, always choose the hardest.” MH