Monk and the Gun, The: Pawo Choyning Dorji’s Satirical Tale of Democratic Elections and Fascination with Violence and Gunss

Photo : Toronto Film Festival

Premise:

The film’s lone American character is a rare-gun collector who travels around the world to retrieve a rare Civil War rifle. Problem is, the weapon currently belongs to a pacifist monk.

World premiering at the 2023 Telluride Film Fest, and later playing at Toronto Fest, The Monk and the Gun was acquired by the entrepreneurial Roadside Attraction for U.S. release.

Critical Status

The movie was selected as the Bhutanese entry for the 2023 Best International Feature Oscar and was one of the 15 finalist films in the shortlist, but it did not make the final cut.

Narrative

Set in 2006, the Kingdom of Bhutan about to become a democracy, is looking to hold elections, and government officials organize mock voting as a training exercise.

In the town of Ura, an old lama orders a monk to get weapons to face the imminent change in the kingdom. Meanwhile, an American antique weapons collector lands in Bhutan in search of valuable rifle that falls into the monk’s hands.

The film follows the story of Tashi, a young monk in Bhutan, and Ron Coleman, an American visitor. Tashi’s lama asks for guns, an odd request considering the rarity of guns in Bhutan. Meanwhile, Ron is in Bhutan to acquire an antique rifle for a collector.

The film explores Bhutan’s movement towards democracy, while satirizing the fascination with guns and violence in democratic society. The villagers humorously attempt to understand elections, while tension builds as Ron’s and Tashi’s stories intertwine.

Dorji, who studied in the U.S., observes his idyllic kingdom by contrasting modern materialism with traditional Buddhist values.

In the end, the movie asks the audience to consider the true nature of modern democracy and the allure of firearms.