September 1999
In This Issue
THE FOUR
PILLARS OF BUDDHISM -
<PART I>
<PART II>
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
TIBETAN
LAMA TAKES CANNES BY STORM -
Phorpa / The Cup
DZONGSAR
KHYENTSE RINPOCHE'S ACTIVITIES IN BHUTAN
LAMA SONAM ZANGPO AND HIS TULKU
DJK's Dharma - DATELESS AND DESPERATE
TIBETAN LAMA TAKES CANNES BY STORM
18 May: "The last thing anyone would expect to see at the Cannes Film Festival is a Tibetan lama hawking a movie about a bunch of monks desperate to watch the 1998 World Cup final on television. But that's just what Khyentse Norbu was doing on Monday as he presented The Cup, his directorial debut and the first-ever Bhutanese entry in Cannes."
This is how Agence France Presse reported Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's stunning success at Cannes. But for a more personal, behind-the-scenes account of events at the festival, the Gentle Voice spoke to producer Raymond Steiner who attended the festival with Maree Tenzin and co-producer Mal Watson. Here's some of what he had to say.
"We
met Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche, his wife Tashi
and their son Jamyang Lodro, one of the stars, when they arrived on the
morning of 13 May by overnight train from Paris. Various members of the
press also met the train. Jamyang Lodro was an instant hit. He was as
cheeky as ever and somewhat embarrassed when he was asked by young, nubile
French girls for autographs, which happened a number of times while we
were there.
"The
only way you could ever describe Rinpoche's impact at Cannes was that
he became the 'darling' of the festival in many respects because he was
so humble, unassuming and charming. In one press interview he mentioned
that in Buddhism there are the eight worldly traps which include wanting
to be famous, wanting to be praised, etc. He made a great parable out
of this by saying,'Here these are the eight traps you must get into -
you have to be famous, you have to be praised, you shouldn't be criticised!
So,' Rinpoche continued, 'there's a little bit of conflict in my life,
trying to deal with that.' He said it jokingly and quite nice and naturally.
The way he charmed them all was typical Rinpoche, he charmed them all.
"The
official press showing at the Théâtre Palais Croisette, the main cinema
for the category of 'Directors' Fortnight' that the film was selected
for, was packed with around 500 people. This was the first official viewing
on a big screen of the film anywhere. Here in Sydney we'd shown it at
Planet Hollywood once, basically to the crew and some of Rinpoche's students,
so it wasn't a very objective audience. This first official viewing was
the most extraordinary experience. Really! We had gotten a bit of an idea
about what responses were happening to a few of the other films that we
had had time to see at the festival. But, I tell you, it was amazing to
witness the response to The Cup.
"Maree, Mal and I, because of other commitments, could only stay for the opening 15 minutes and returned for the last 20 minutes. The lights dimmed and the first chuckle came three or four minutes in, on one of O.T.'s lines about going to get another prediction from the old lama. O.T. plays the role of Geko, the monastery's disciplinarian. The abbot responds to O.T, 'That's a good idea' and O.T. replies, 'Yeah, I know, but he's a loony and his place stinks.' That's the line and the audience let out a cautious giggle. Then there was another cautious giggle a bit later and it kept building up each time a humorous line came along. They had come with preconceptions and it took them a little while to realise that it was a comedy and they could, in fact, laugh at these monks. You know, it wasn't serious monastic behaviour and therefore there wasn't this reverential attitude that had to be taken. They were laughing in places that we had no idea would get a laugh. It came as a complete surprise and we were rather stunned as we sneaked out.
"Upon our return the audience was laughing throughout the entire last 20 minutes of the film. Then, once the last line has been spoken and the music starts to swell, the first of the five epilogue lines comes up, 'This story is based on true events', and the applause starts. And it continues. Then, as they're applauding, the second line comes up, more applause. The third line comes up and the applause continues. Then the fourth line comes up and it's lightening up a little bit, but they're still applauding. And then the last line comes up, which says, 'And the Chinese are still serving rice in Tibet.' The whole audience went berserk again. They started applauding even more. It was an absolutely staggering response. The press got a good opinion!
"That evening was the official press conference for the general public and invited guests. Now, that showing was also absolutely remarkable because they introduced the principals. Mal Watson was introduced first, then me, and we had to go up on stage. Then Jamyang Lodro came third. He was so wonderful. He set the tone beautifully. As he walked up, he held his clasped hands high above his head like the Dalai Lama does and the house just cracked up and was overflowing with warmth. Then O.T. came up and did exactly the same thing and then so did Rinpoche! The audience was so warm. Then finally Paul Warren, the cinematographer, was located in the audience. Somehow he had gotten lost in all the excitement and he came bounding up on the stage. All this was a bit nerve-racking for Rinpoche, but actually I think it was more nerve-racking for us. Rinpoche just said that he hoped they would enjoy the film. As simple as that. Then we all took our seats and the lights dimmed. Oh, by the way, this was the first time that Rinpoche, O.T., Tashi and Jamyang Lodro were seeing the film. Rinpoche had had to leave Sydney before we had the showing there.
"Anyway, the same thing happened as in the press showing. The audience cautiously started chuckling and then, about 15 minutes into the film, they really started going for it, right through the whole film and at the end, the same sort of thing. When the first epilogue line came up, the applause really started heavily. Maree had decided that, no matter what the response was, she was going to stand up and give Rinpoche a standing ovation. So she stood up, clapping furiously. Then she looked around her and realised that everyone else was standing up and clapping! And when the last epilogue line came up, 'And the Chinese are still serving rice in Tibet', the house came down! It was a major standing ovation. It was remarkable, truly remarkable! A spotlight came on Rinpoche. He was really impressed and a little embarrassed as well, I think. Needless to say, we all were impressed, including the executive producers, Jeremy Thomas and Hooman Majd. Hooman, incidentally, had only met Rinpoche for the first time at Cannes. Rinpoche had thanked Hooman personally for trusting someone whom he had never met and who had never made a film before. Hooman is a shy and remarkable gentleman and took this as a great compliment, especially as Rinpoche stated this to most of the press. We then went off to party on the beach. A great night was had by all, thanks to Jeremy, who organised it, complete with imported DJs from Holland and an endless bar and champagne. Excellent!
"Recovery
the next day was a bit slow for Mal, Paul and I, but for Rinpoche there
were four solid days of interviews, 24 television and radio interviews
and 25 print media interviews. We were also informed that Rinpoche was
short-listed for the Camera d'Or, the prize for first-time directors.
This was to be announced on Sunday, the last day of the festival. If you're
up for one of those prizes, they inform you a little bit beforehand, so
you don't up and leave Cannes. Hooman changed his flight and invited us
all for a Sunday lunch at a beautiful restaurant on the old port of Cannes.
We were going to get the word by about three o'clock. We didn't hear by
three and Mal got a little bit toey at one point and tried to ring up
to find out what was happening. He couldn't wait any longer. He has one
of these phones with a credit card and, just as he was about ready to
pop the question, his credit ran out and he got cut off! He didn't have
another card, so we had to wait for them to ring us back. The anticipation
was tempered by our rosé consumption, one of those South-of-France habits.
"At
some point we got a call to say we hadn't win the prize. We knew it had
been between two films, ourselves and a young Indian director from Kerala,
who made a bizarre feature about an Indian peasant electrocuted in the
first 'electric throne' in Kerala. It was really great that he won because,
by the time Sunday rolled around, Rinpoche's funding for his next film
was reasonably assured. And now, upon winning the prize, the young Indian
director's next film was guaranteed. I think the prize is about US$50,000
and limited but guaranteed distribution.
"What we've achieved by premiering The Cup at Cannes is that Rinpoche is now successfully strutting the stage of world cinema. The film is a very successful piece of cinema history as dharma moves into the 21st century. The Cup was seen by many people and enjoyed by everyone who saw it. And we hope that the same will happen everywhere. And as Cannes is the intellectual premiere event of all film festivals in Europe, what more could one ask for?"
And what's happening with the film's distribution, you may well ask? Well, it's already been sold throughout Europe and North America. It's going to film festivals in Rio, San Sebastian, Tokyo, Toronto, Monaco, London, Taipei, Sundance and Munich. Its Asian-Pacific premiere will take place at Australia's inaugural Noosa Film Festival on 3 September. Germany, Italy, Spain and France are all releasing it around the latter part of October, and in L.A. and New York it will open on 28 January 2000.
"So, in fact," concludes Raymond, "The Cup runneth over."
