Sober little comedy about the determined efforts of exiled Tibetan monks in India to watch the '98 World Cup final between Brazil and France ("France is the only country that loyally supports Tibet"). The story behind the screen is at least as compelling: the first film of Khyentse Norbu, a practicing lama, the reputed reincarnation of a 19th-century saint, and, perhaps more helpfully, an apprentice to Bernardo Bertolucci on Little Buddha. Some early verbal reminders of Chinese oppression in their homeland hardly establish a light mood, and the nonprofessional actors (actual Tibetan monks) convey little nuance, and not much else, either. But the movie is competently made, and sweet in spirit, and easy going down. (1999) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.