Angry Monk - Reflections on Tibet (2005)

Angry Monk - Reflections on Tibet (2005)
Directed By: Luc Schaeder

A documentary film shot in Tibet and India, focussing on the life of Gendun Choephel, a Tibetan monk who sought to discover his own personal worldview through debate, religion and travel.

Angry Monk is an insight into the history of Tibet through the eyes of it's director, Luc Schaeder, as he explores the life of a rebellious monk. Schaeder interviews Choepel's friends and family while he makes his way around the country, musing over different interpretations of what the Tibetan people have to say about him.

The film is very personal in its presentation of the subject and is dominated by a commentary, which relays ideas and opinions over footage of young school children playing basketball, old men playing dice and beautiful landscape sequences.

Everyone willing to speak about Choephel in the film has positive things to say about him. That is, there opinions of the man are positive, even though they depict how the monk drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes and used prostitutes. Schaeder uses these personal stories to contrast the Monks artwork and reputation amongst his old friends. Choephel certainly had an impact on the people he met and debated with and this anthropological exposure is a testament to his anti-orthodoxy.