SAMSARA



Germany-France-Italy-India, 2001, 138 min, color

A spiritual lovestory set in the majestic landscape of Ladakh, in the Himalayas, Samsara is a quest - one man's struggle to find spiritual Enlightenment. Apo, a wise and elderly monk accompanied by Sonam, a young one, makes his way across the mountains in search of Tashi, a young disciple who is just completing 3 years of solitary meditation in a remote hermitage. Brought out of a deep trance, Tashi is taken back to his ancient monastery, where he slowly recovers his strength. But Tashi's return has unexpected results. Despite a life devoted to the rigours of spiritual development, he finds himself experiencing a surprisingly profound sexual awakening. These feelings coincide with his meeting with Pema. It is love at first sight. For the first time, Tashi begins to question the spiritual values of his monastic existence. Apo sends him to a mysterious hermitage to be initiated into the sexual mysteries of the sacred Tantric texts; Tashi realizes that one has to experience worldly existence in order to renounce it. And so he quits the monastery where he has lived since the age of five for the promise of Samsara, the world.