QUICK’N DIRTY: LIVE FROM TALLINN
To be a sibling is a duty beyond words. The spirited young woman Jamuna recognises this as she travels up the Himalayas with her sister. Through genuinely staggeringly beautiful camerawork, the pair go up and up, to compete in harvesting yarsagumba, which they can sell in order to fund Jamuna’s travels abroad. Through rain and heat they march, getting closer together. On this journey, they meet like-minded folk, each voyaging for a deeply personal purpose.
Yarsagumba, it is established, is a form of fungus/insect hybrid that will sell well. Troves of Nepalese stand around in the hope of grabbing bags of the creatures, in the name of trade. In this self-appointed odyssey, the pair venture onwards in the hope of attaining some semblance of glory. All they hear are goats and sheep bleating and blaring. Strength and partnership comes from within.
The journey is a meditative one, much as Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago (Lydia B.Smith, 2013) was, bringing the viewer headfirst into the march. Director Alexander Murphy shows many differing textures. There is a charming snippet of Nepalese people jumping in and out of a river. Giggling and splashing, the group let out days of frustration. The sisters sit in a circle with two other wanderers, the oceanic blue sky behind them presenting opportunity and potential. They discuss their paths and goals. After their introspection, they stand by a fire and dance with the villagers who live up the mountain.
Jamuna is aware of the dangers: people remind her that others have died due to a lack of clothes and food. Like a peregrino/pilgrim on the Camino in Spain, some of the walkers have taken to this walk for spiritual and religious reasons. “An offering to the divinity has arrived,” a voice shouts out. Then the prayer grows more urgent: “Please do not make us sick.” Illness on a mountain spells certain death.
The higher the siblings climb, the narrower the gaps become on the cliffs. It’s like watching a tightrope walker on vertiginous high building. It becomes evident that the journey is more important than the destination. Every participant in this documentary grows on the camera, next to dazzling displays of natural colour.
The stylistic use of colour on display is impeccable here: hues of reds, oranges and yellows dotting the scenery. Goodbye Sisters is a wondrous tapestry of colours that evokes the feelings from the central protagonists. Dressed in their raincoats, the two women are overshadowed by the vast landscape ahead of them.One wears red, the other black, the colours that distinguish them from the green around the place.
This French-Nepali production makes deft use of the spacing and environment, but the true magnitude of the work comes from the fact that it is a movie about people. It’s the little trivialities, gazes and jokes that draws the viewer in. This journey is not comfortable for the feet, but wonderful for the internal soul. What emerges on the large screen isn’t a tale about friendships, but family.
Goodbye Sisters just premoered in the Doc@PÖFF International Competition of the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
