Michael Palin - Himalaya

Amazon.com

Michael Palin has yet to grow tired of tromping around the planet on behalf of the BBC--or so he says in a special, pre-departure introduction to his always gratifying, sometimes thrilling Michael Palin: Himalaya. He makes a point of acknowledging that he is, and feels, considerably older than during the making of his first, exotic travelogue, 1989's Around the World In 80 Days with Michael Palin. (Palin has made three other globe-tripping series between Around the World and Himalaya.) But despite his age (61 at the time of Himalaya's production), Palin remains enthusiastic about experiencing people and cultures new to him. Moreover, despite Himalaya's itinerary through conflict-riddled border nations in the shadow of that fantastic mountain range, Palin confesses to enjoying travels through countries "with a bit of an edge."

So be it. Working for the fifth time with co-director Roger Mills and several other key crew members, Palin launches the series in Pakistan. There he rides the handsome Khyber rail, visits a dentist with an extremely slow drill (shudder), discovers Pakistan's love affair with guns, and takes in the almost mythic spectacle of bull-racing. Episode 2, "A Passage to India," begins at an altitude of 14,000 feet, bypassing K-2 to watch a fascinating and, happily, peaceful manifestation of historic hostilities between Pakistan and India. Specifically, Palin enjoys a day-long contest of ceremonial drills between Indian and Pakistani soldiers, literally set on either side of a white borderline between nations. The host also visits a fantastic temple for India's 20 million Sikhs, and finds vestiges everywhere of Britain's former colonial rule.

Later episodes find Palin in war-torn Kashmir (India and Pakistan vie for control), where he discovers a houseboat where Ravi Shankar taught sitar to George Harrison. Palin also gains an audience with the Dalai Lama, who recognizes the Monty Python star and laughs through most of the interview. Other series highlights include unnerving signs of recent violence in Nepal (where insurgent Maoists battle the king's army, the latter reinforced by British officers); settling into base camp at Mt. Everest; travels through Tibet (where China's forced modernization awkwardly co-exists with Tibetan antiquities); taking in devoutly Buddhist and environmentally progressive Bhutan; finally ending in a compelling excursion through Bangladesh. Special features include deleted scenes, very much worth the time to extend Palin's travels. --Tom Keogh

Description

Hot on the heels of his adventures in the Sahara, Michael Palin takes on the abode of snow and begins a 2000-mile journey across this mighty and majestic region of Asia. Encountering extremes of wealth and poverty, altitude and freezing cold, he once again brings his unique wit, charm and wisdom to each of 6 episodes. Along the way he encounters, among many others, the Dalai Lama, the Bhutanese Royal Family and the once feared head hunting tribe of the Konyak. While on his travels he passes through Afghanistan, across India to the feared Death Zone near the base of Mount Everest and then onto the Bhutanese capital before arriving in the Bay of Bengal.

DVD Features:
Interviews
Introduction

Customer Reviews:

Inspiration? Michael Palin!.......2007-03-15

Tragically, it is not easy to get access to BBC shows in the USA. There are some truly great series, for example all the travel series done by Michael Palin (some more amazing than others, but all very good). You might recognize him from his days as a star in Monty Python or from the film "A Fish Called Wanda." Part of what makes him a great travel series host is that he retains his humor while exploring extremely fascinating parts of the globe. His series are very balanced, informative, and entertaining all at the same time.

The most refreshing thing about his series is that they are not presented as "look at all these great touristic places I have been," but rather the camera is more of a silent witness to his adventures. It really just follows him as he sets out to do his carefully researched itineraries ("Around the World in 80 Days," "Pole to Pole," "Full Circle," "Sahara," "Himalaya") or themes ("Hemingway Adventure," "Palin's New Europe"). His style is both objective and subjective. Whilst retaining a journalistic like objectivity he also lets you know how he subjectively feels about the places he visits and about how he personally feels in regards to his personal health both physically and psychologically: he shares his apprehensions, feelings of triumph or defeat, relief or disparity, amazement and disappointments, mourning or elation or even neutrality, sickness and homesickness or feelings of health; in other words, his style is to bring the richness of a written travelogue to film. You get the feeling that you are watching his diary; for example, when he does his post trip/editing room voice-overs and other commentary, he adds his comments from it.
You see him get altitude sickness in the Himalayas ("Himalaya"), and you see him participate in a bizarre yet hilarious crossing-the-international-date-line ritual performed by the ship crew on his way from Japan to the USA (in "Around the World in 80 Days.") Moreover, the trips have quite large budgets so there really is no limit to what kind of itinerary he can dream up. In "Around the World in 80 Days" he set out to literally circumnavigate the globe, but not just in a ship, he uses any means of ground transportation he can find, which includes joining ship barges. The one stipulation is no air transportation. In other series his itineraries are equally as grand: in "Full Circle" he makes a trip around the Pacific Rim and has the unique privilege of hiring a helicopter to see some difficult to get to parts of far eastern Russia and after, true to Palin style, learns Russian drinking songs from the pilot while drinking vodka with him; in "Pole to Pole" he takes the only commercial plane that flies from South America to the South Pole, a ticket that is prohibitively expensive for your average traveller.

It was very easy for me to get addicted to Michael Palin's series and I had the fortune of living in China where bootlegs of anything are easy to come by when I did. In the USA, his shows are difficult to come by. I know that the complete box set of all the series he has done so far (he has at least one or two more left in him) is sold at a bargain price in the UK. But for people living in the USA who cannot stand the fact that those DVDs are (probably) regioned to the effect that they will not even work on our DVD players here even when legitimately purchased and imported to the USA, perhaps the best alternative is to turn to the internet (cough, torrents, cough).

Terrific series of programs.......2007-03-08

This set of DVDs contains a terrific series of programs for anyone interested in the Himalaya. My wife and I originally watched them on a set that was loaned to us by a friend, and we enjoyed them so much we purchased a copy for ourselves.

Outstanding.......2007-01-11

This DVD by Michael Palin is simply outstanding - it is a pure pleasure to watch from beginning to end. Palin is both factual and funny in his narrative of this huge trip across the Himalayas from Pakistan to Ladakh, India, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Yunnan. I read his book and watched his film several times, never tiring of the beautiful scenery and of his interviews with the people he met along the way. Highly recommended for those who have been or those who have not been to this wonderful part of the world.

Travelling with Michael Palin.......2006-04-22

One key factor to any travel show is whether the host is likeable or not. Michael Palin is just the sort of engaging host that makes "Himalaya" such a wonderful and exhilarating program. He's affable, engaging locals in conversation despite language barriers. He's game, trekking up the Himalayas despite the thin air and a nagging cough. He's funny, making the local children laugh during an English lesson.

The scenery, of course, is breath-taking. Most of us will never see it in person. Throughout the program, Michael maintains a down-to-earth and pleasant demeanor, which is important in a travel companion. He came up with a few gems, one of which was singing the Monty Python "Lumberjack Song" to an elderly man in Bhutan. Irreverent and funny moments indeed.

For those interested in Tibet, the segment there is sadly propagandized by the Chinese, who were obviously aware of this BBC production. It seemed so odd how all the locals praised the Chinese government. The extra footage of Michael's conversation with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India was very interesting. I highly recommend this DVD!

The high point of Michael Palin's career?.......2006-04-16

Actually, I think I liked the first three of Michael Palin's travelogues ("Around the World in 80 Days", "Pole to Pole" and "Full Circle") better than the three that follow ("Hemingway Adventure", "Sahara" and "Himalaya"). So from that point of view it's not correct to call "Himalaya" the high point of Michael Palin's career.

The big difference is that each of the first three series was documenting a trip made by Michael Palin, and the trip itself was the central element that provided a focal point for the TV series.

In the last three series, and especially in "Himalaya", one gets the feeling that the traveling was secondary, and that the purpose of the whole exercise was primarily to find places and people and events that would make "good TV".

"Himalaya" was, of course, a fantastic trip, and the TV series that covers it is very interesting. Many countries around the Himalayan Mountains were visited, some of them well off the tourist track and some of them with security problems such that the team needed armed guards. Specifically, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Tibet, China, Nagaland, Assam, Bhutan and Bangladesh were visited. A total of 3000 miles was traveled during 125 days (6 months), and many beautiful and exciting images, encounters and interviews resulted.

Some of the best parts in the series include Michael Palin making several treks on foot up into the mountains, the highest trek going to Everest Base Camp at 5480 m (18000 ft). Well done, considering that Michael was 60 when he did the trip.

Other high points (ha, ha) include visiting the Dalai Lama, milking a yak, talking to a retired headhunter, buying booze in Pakistan, having an almost-encounter with Maoists in Nepal and sailing off into the sunset in the Bay of Bengal. All situations where the special Michael Palin wit and charm comes through strongly.

The down side is that it all seems a bit too artificial, a bit too motivated by "is this good TV?" The traveling itself is hardly mentioned at all, and in reality the filming and traveling was done in several visits to the area over a period of 11 months. Nor is there a continuous route from start to finish; instead Michael and the team seem to jump back and forth from place to place in order to find the elusive "good TV" locations and events.

The DVD version of the TV series is on three discs containing the six one-hour programs. In addition there is the following extra material:

- an introduction by Michael Palin, 3 minutes.
- 125 minutes of additional scenes - mixed quality, some good, some not so interesting.
- an interview with Michael Palin, 27 minutes, very good.

Highly recommended. Despite my negative feelings about the producers focusing on finding "good TV" instead of focusing on the trip as an undertaking, this is, of course, really good TV.

Rennie Petersen

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