MEET WRITER/DIRECTOR FREDERICK MARX >>>

Every so often, The Grand Cinema invites a filmmaker to town to share and discuss his or her work with audiences. This Thursday, June 9, the Oscar-nominated writer-director Frederick Marx visits Tacoma along with his 2010 documentary Journey from Zanskar.

"Though beings are innumerable, I vow to free them from all suffering." 

This Bodhisattva vow greets us in the film's opening title. Geshe Lobsang Yonten took this vow - and took it to heart - while becoming a Tibetan monk. He seeks to help his small, impoverished community of Zanskar, tucked away among the mountains of northern India. He desires his Tibetan culture to not die, but instead to live on in the youth there. To achieve this they must receive education in Manali, 180 miles away. So Yonten takes it upon himself to somehow safely guide these children across a harsh wilderness entirely on foot.

Richard Gere narrates this highly suspenseful trip as the group encounters the brutal cold and myriad dangers like rockslides, altitude sickness and snow blindness. In a strangely nonchalant way, Yonten admits early on that death can come at any time for him and his fellow travelers. This makes his interpretation of the above vow a curious one - he wants a better life and intellectual enlightenment for the young ones under his care, yet to do so he has no choice but to subject them to a physically grueling trial. Does the end justify the means?

Zanskar makes for a visceral viewing experience, so much so that I began feeling a bit guilty. There I am, cozy under a blanket on my couch while watching a movie about suffering kids - Christopher, you douche! But the lessons taken away go deeper than that. By unflinchingly showing the struggles of some of our fellow man, the director successfully takes us on a journey out of indifference, and into compassion.

[The Grand Cinema, Journey From Zanskar with writer/director Frederick Marx, Thursday, June 9, 6:45 p.m., $5-$8, 606 S Fawcett, Tacoma, 253.593.4474]