A Nepali feature film set in Jomsom, is a folky, funny, tender tale about a young man, Lhakpa who returns to his village after studying in Kathmandu. Village life sucks him in, and he quickly falls into a rhythm, teasing his sister, providing emotional and physical support to his mother, and trying to pre-empt the already too far gone, albeit quiet, alcoholism of his father.Events conspire to keep him in his home village, working the fields, even as more people around him choose to abandon traditional livelihoods as they move to America – jumping at the chance of a less grueling life, rather than eking out an existence as subsistence farmers.
Slowly, along with Lhakpa we rediscover the simple pleasures and the real hardships of life in Upper Mustang, even as we are smitten by the beauty of the landscape which has been captured to perfection. Directed by Rajan Kathet, Serdhak – The Golden Hill conveys, without histrionics, the very real bind that almost every Nepali is facing today — to stay, and struggle against the odds or to leave and try to find a better life elsewhere, even if it means losing your culture and being separated, indefinitely, from your family.
Serdhak is a sensitive, thoughtful film, and while the acting is not always up to par, the are so charming in their portrayal of the characters that one feels compelled to stick with them.Often, films press for drama and story, with twists and turns that are too absurd to take seriously. This is not one of those. Serdhak affects you with its quiet attempt at neo-realism, in my mind the right step in the direction towards creating true independent cinema.
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