the monk and the gun review

film by Pawo Choyning Dorji (2023)

In 2006, as Bhutan prepares for its first-ever democratic elections and democratic transfer after the king’s abdication, an aging Lama asks his young monk student to produce two firearms so that he can set things right.

Review by Aaron Jones | Sep 24, 2024

Becoming the youngest democracy on the planet and the last remaining nation to connect to the internet reveals a fascinating look at this rural landscape that has accumulated minimal influence from the modern world, posing many philosophical questions on whether the impact of a society entrenched in traditionalism can be improved by modernism and the drastic changes that democracy and Western ideologies so often carry with them.

This question, larger than the individual, shows graceful humor and care in the juxtaposition of a collective society being asked to participate in that of an individualist one. It impresses upon us a sense of innocence that can be lost through instilling traits they do not embrace, such as competitiveness and ego to pursue personal gain, and our dependence on technology, corporate culture, and the superficial glitter of the material world that commonly encourages taking more than we need. When we see these new influences placed in this setting, it instills an awkward and intrusive forcefulness that communicates that those who offer progress often do not see ways in which others can benefit without it, suggesting only those on the receiving end of these new concepts have something to learn. As the film later demonstrates, it is we who come as teachers who have much to learn from those we see outside the influence of progress.

Much like the American Frank Coleman, who is there in search of antique guns, who represents American capitalism and who, ironically, looks surprisingly like Mark Zuckerberg and carries with him many of the negative traits of individualism and capitalism. I also came to discover from another review that his name is an homage to a character in a 1937 film called “Lost Horizon,” in which his plane crashes in the Himalayas, leading him to discover Shangri-La and offering a subliminal connection to previous representations of the Himalayas and the influences posed by the outside world, in this case, WWII.

The Monk and the Gun is a cautionary tale that suggests the threat of allegiances and divisiveness sewn into a culture that has largely avoided them. As the West suggests these gifts we have brought to them are worth fighting for, the film itself seems to counter that by asking: if it causes people to fight, what value is it to them? Can freedom be sold to those who feel they have more freedoms and independence than those trying to sell them their version of freedom? Is freedom just as much embodied in the physical as it is in the psychological, and are the sacrifices in quality of life and peace of mind outweighed by the gains previously unattainable to them?

Author

Reviewed and published by Aaron Jones. Based in California, he developed a passion for film from a young age and has since viewed over 10,000 films. Curently serves as a film critic at CinemaWaves, he has contributed to other publications as well. Feel free to follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

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