Valley of Flowers

Valley of Flowers got me all excited, as it was the very first public screening in Delhi's packed Siri Fort Audi where audience was spilling all over the floor... Spectators were made of all races, many from abroad to participate in Cinefan. Among them India's who's-who; film stars, ministers, ambassadors, business tycoons, designers, software giants, painters, musicians, writers and loads of young people.

Film did get mixed reactions, however I did not allow myself to be influenced by other's opinion. Something strong certainly happened to me when the lights came on –as if I was coming out of hypnosis. I even forgot to give a round of applause.

The film surely has something and I haven't figured out what? At 155 minutes, it is long, has certain problems, badly subtitled and weak in parts. But I am astonished at the story, characters and cinematic style. Pan Nalin with his second feature (after Samsara) makes a very bold step in unexplored territories and comes out strong as a scriptwriter with guts, a director with exceptional talent and a filmmaker to watch out for. Just for all those reasons I have generously given 10 out of 10.

Film's plot is both, complex and simple. It might not be for everyone but it's truly worth the viewing. Rarely a theme of love, longing and immortality has been so well depicted before. Valley… is a hymn to harmony in nature, balance among demons and humans, good and evil, life and death, black and white. It is a poetic telling of reincarnation and karma.

Valley… is a magnificent house, filmmaker invites us inside with warm Asian hospitality but does not give us keys to all the doors. Now for some that will be a negative thing and for others it would be positive. Because Pan Nalin allows audience to interact with this epic love story –in honest manner.

There are breathtaking moments in Valley… like appearance of Ushna, levitated lovemaking, valley of silence, time-walk and final climax in Japan. Cinematography is superb and the casting is near perfect. Himalayan landscapes are awesome. Towards the end the entire resolution of the saga happens in modern-day Tokyo and that is destructive and divine –like most Asian myths. Pan Nalin's regard on Tokyo and Japan is very sensitive and subtle.

Watching Valley… is truly a cinematic experience of unforgettable kind –I highly recommend to those who love traveling beyond mainstream

I had recently had an occasion to discover VALEY OF FLOWERS. Lot has been said about this film. Thus I would only add that Nalin has played with very dangerous theme and cinematic structure; he comes out as truly talented director, a filmmaker with vision.

But these days the film journalism and criticism is not a pleasant place to be. It is often short sighted and fails to see a great talent behind each work.

My curiosity lead me to spend days and weeks to get hold of some of the remarkable films made by Pan Nalin prior to SAMSARA.

When Pan Nalin was barely 20 years of age, he made breathtaking 20 minute short fiction titled KHAJURAHO. This short film is excellent, has a vision, a unique vision. Shot in CinemaScope and Black and White -it is a sheer poetry in motion. Whether we like it or not a director was born that day.

Apparently Nalin made many silent shorts between the age of 16 to 20 but KHAJURAHO was the first film he was able to complete. I could not track any of his earlier works.

Later, Nalin and his crew put their lives in danger when they went to shoot NAGAS, a documentary on wildest of tribe of North-Eastern India. No filmmaker had ventured there before -and after since the Naga was made in 1995.

Similar attempt were made while making simple but bold documentaries like TULKUS or DEVADASIS.

I was surprised to read some negative criticism on the Net about recent works of Pan Nalin. Valley of Flowers is his (only) second feature!!! Come on, give this guy a break!!!

Most of the film critics failed to remember that what was the first and second films of Hitchcock, Kurosawa, Wong Kar Wai, Bergman, Antonioni.... were like???

I am not hear to defend Pan Nalin, whoever he maybe, but filmmakers in General. First and Second and even third movies of film directors are often like Soparano Singers shaping the color of his/her voice. Give those guys some time. They will master melodies which will move you to tears -if not you have a right to massacre them!

Filmmaker like Pan Nalin, if they were in Hollywood making English language movies, they would have got much better attention.

We should remember how hard it is to make an original work of cinema in Asia or Africa. Often you are not only struggling to make the film of your dream but also trying to feed the family of fifteen at same time!

Someone like Pan Nalin are gifted to give us a meaningful entertainment. They are capable of pulling the best out of Hollywood. Remember, very rarely a Hollywood director will write his own script. Nalin has proved his talent for excellent screen writing with both SAMSARA and VALLEY OF FLOWERS.

Directors like Pan Nalin are truly "International Director" in the line of Inarritu or Meirelles; They make the new cinema, new entertainment and new world we live in - a most fascinating place to be -enjoy and celebrate the life the way it is and not the way you are.

incredibly great and realistic movie, showed the real beauty of ladakh, nice story line excellent execution, lead actors looked really great but acting is bleak lead actress Mylène Jampanoï , she is amazingly beautiful. Director succeeded in holding audience attention till the end, even though length of the movie is very long but i never felt bored or off track at any point. Excellent costumes, shooting in ladakh is difficult task , really great efforts from the whole crew. I really feel this movie deserves better promotion world wide. I just came to know about this movie through the news that the lead pair got married.

I really wonder why there is no publicity for such a great movie. fate of this movie quite similar to that of ladakh - unseen and untouched beauty

Forty plus years ago, when I sat in a third run theater on Hollywood Blvd watching Lawrence of Arabia, I knew that my life must change and that I had to get out there, into the world, and enjoy what it had to offer. Fortunately I was able to do so to a significant degree. Since that time, I have never had a cinematic experience that not only equaled it but exceeded it, in that way. The film opens in the Himilayas at 16,000' altitude and proceeds to take you higher and higher. After 2 1/2 hours you wish it would not end. Not only the landscape of the mountain passes but the real people who live there made my eyes want to be able to see more, deeper, faster with greater ability to never forget what I saw. I'm really confident that this film will stand the test of time on that issue. It is a story that I would not believe could be told on film being down and dirty exotic real life and at the same time an uplifting spiritual experience. I'll see it again as soon as they get a distributor.

I heard about this film more than a year ago but didn't get around to watching it until last week. The first thing that stands out about this movie is Pan Nalin's superb direction and breathtaking cinematography, which depicts the 19th century Himalayas like never before in the first half of the film. However, the storyline was also quite slow-paced in the first half. On the other hand, the second half of the film, which takes place in modern-day Tokyo, doesn't have such a great cinematography but the storyline moves along at a much better pace, leading up to a hard-hitting and very touching ending.

8/10