OSCARS 2022: Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019)

The purpose of the Best International Feature category at the Oscars is to highlight cinema made outside of America. This is presumably why the category name was changed from Best Foreign Language Film last year, to purposely acknowledge that movies are a global language. Despite that, the category is always full of controversy and oversights. I feel like there’s a lot of frustrating aspects to the rules governing the category. Nevertheless, sometimes it works exactly the way it’s supposed to. The nomination of “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” marks the first time a film from Bhutan has been recognized at the Oscars. This presumably brought Bhutanese cinema, and therefore Bhutanese culture, to a much wider audience than ever before. At least among people who pay attention to the Academy Awards. 

The film follows Ugyen, a struggling teacher working for a Bhutanese government program to educate every child in the country. Ugyen is disenfranchised with teaching and wants to move to Australia to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. This is when he’s reassigned to a classroom in Lunana, one of the most remote villages in the entire country. He’s initially reluctant to stay in the community, which is hundreds of meters above sea level and considerably lacking in resources. However, he soon grows attached to his students and the people he meets there. As a severe winter quickly approaches, Ugyen has to reconsider his decision to leave the country, and his life as a teacher, behind. 

Despite its exotic setting, and the secluded culture it displays, “Lunana” follows some well-trod narrative tropes. This is the story of a city slicker learning to love life out in the sticks. Ugyen quickly learns how unprepared for Lunana he is, when the fancy sneakers he wears are ruined during the arduous hike up to the village. There’s limited electricity in Lunana and no cell phone reception. The classroom doesn’t even have a blackboard at first. This is a poor community of farmers and yak ranchers, who are committed to their traditionalist lifestyles. While skeptical of the local culture and spiritual beliefs at first, Ugyen soon grows to appreciate this way of life. Like a hundred fictional characters before him, he is an urbanite who falls in love with a rural world. He even grows attached to yaks and discovers all the various applications of their dung. 

This is not the only commonly seen story type on display here. At first, Ugyen has no attachment to his class. He’s so put off by life in the extremely rural Lunana that he makes plans to leave as soon as possible. You can tell he considers the locals kind of backwards too. Of course, it’s only a matter of time before he develops a connection with these kids. Class representative Pem Zam especially becomes important to him. Another cliché of this type of story is clear in Pem Zam’s troubled home life, though the film doesn’t linger on that too much. Basically, from the moment Ugyen says he doesn’t want to be a teacher anymore, it’s obvious that his experience in Lunana will reignite his passion for the profession. “A Yak in the Classroom” hits most of the expected beats, right down to Ugyen’s growing fondness for the school’s hairy mascot that’s given title billing. 

As cliched as the film might be, that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy “Lunana.” The film has an extremely quiet, laidback feel to it that is charming. Just as Ugyen slowly warms up to life in Lunana, the audience is drawn into the unique world these characters reside in. The film turns away from melodrama or theatrics, instead doing everything it can to impose pleasantness on the viewing. The spiritual beliefs of the community are highlighted via a flirtatious friendship with a young woman that Ugyen forms. The importance of yaks, to both the way of life and folkloric beliefs, are repeatedly referenced. It’s all really interesting and quietly compelling, giving you a peek at an obscure corner of the world that you probably didn’t know anything about before hand. You come away from the film with the general impression that Lunana is a challenging but really nice place to live. It doesn’t hurt that the village and its surrounding mountain tops are gorgeous, highlighted by some lovely cinematography. 

Obviously, the filmmakers actually traveled all the way up the mountain to film in Lunana. It’s unsurprising to read that many of the locals played themselves in the film, that the classroom set is the town’s actual schoolhouse. That means “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” is a glorified travelogue. Some have even questioned the movie’s purpose. The film has been refer to as propaganda from the Bhutanese government, made to encourage young people to stay in the country. Once you read that, it’s impossible not to notice the way the film does subtly promote that message. Yet “instead of leaving Bhutan, move out to the country and start a family” is a pretty mellow objective, as far as propaganda goes. “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” is a sweet, quiet motion picture that puts a spotlight on a secluded community, which gives it a lot of value it otherwise probably wouldn’t have had. [7/10]