Feature film
Gasa Lamai Singye
Ugyen Wangdi · 1989
Synopsis
The film adapts a Bhutanese legend of tragic love, known through a popular song and often compared to Romeo and Juliet, that of Singye and Galem. In the tradition, Singye, a servant at the dzong of Punakha, falls in love with Galem, a peasants' daughter who weaves cloth and whom he met at the market; but Singye's lord asks for the young woman's hand while Singye is sent on a mission to Gasa.
Context
Regarded as Bhutan's first feature film, the film was produced by Ugetsu Communications, its director's company. According to Tshewang Dendup, it drew on a ballad of the country, whereas the films that followed imitated Bollywood and Hollywood; only a dozen were produced before 2001. The director relied above all on images and silences to cross the barrier of the country's many languages. Sonam Lhendup Tshering made a new version of it in 2016.
Who it is for
For seeing the film that opens the history of the country's cinema, adapted from a story handed down from generation to generation.
Prizes and reception
The legend of Singye and Galem has since been brought to the screen several times by Bhutanese cinema.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.