Le grand (très grand) Naseeruddin Shah dans La Vallée des Fleurs / The Valley of Flowers

La Vallée des Fleurs ou La Vallée des Immortels ?
Film réalisé par Pan Nalin (réalisateur de Ayurveda) avec Mylène Jampanoi, Milind Soman, Naseeruddin Shah

Drame d'amour himalayen

L’action débute au XIXe siècle, au Ladakh, dans les vallées escarpées et désertiques de l’Himalaya. Jalan (Milind Soman), un chef de bandits indo-tibétains, dévalise les caravanes empruntant la route du sel et de la soie. Et voilà qu’il tombe amoureux de Ushna (Mylène Jampanoï), un démon incarné sous les traits d’une belle Amazone. Du coup, le Yéti (Naseeruddin Shah), personnage mythologique, s’en mêle car l’équilibre de la nature s’en trouve menacé. Deux siècles plus tard, les amants maudits, devenus immortels, se retrouvent à Tokyo pour une aventure ultime...

CRITIQUE. Après Samsara et Ayurveda, le cinéaste d’origine indienne Pan Nalin réalise une superbe épopée mystique, une histoire d’amour passionnée et impossible sur les contreforts de l’Himalaya et au Japon. Inspirée de Magie d’amour et Magie noire, le roman d’Alexandra David Neel, cette belle légende himalayenne entraîne le spectateur dans un voyage sensuel, mystique, envoûtant. Des décors grandioses, des images à couper le souffle, de l’action, du suspense, de l’émotion... Pan Nalin a réussi son pari. Son film est magnifique et remarquablement interprété par Milind Soman, Mylène Jampanoï et Naseeruddin Shah.

par Brigitte Baudin (figaroscope.fr / http://www.figaroscope.fr/cinema/2007012300023104.html )

The Valley of Flowers

Along the highest mountain passes of the Himalayas, tough, intrepid Jalan (Milind Soman) and his gang earn their living by stealing from unsuspecting travelers. Abiding by their own, unique codes of honor and dividing the spoils equally, all is routine until the arrival of the mystifying, beautiful Ushna (Mylene Jampanoi). Appearing mysteriously after the raid of a pilgrim caravan, Ushna adheres to Jalan, claiming to have seen him in her dreams, and refusing to leave his side. Sensing the unease of the rest of the men, Ushna offers to help them in their endeavors, under condition that they not ask why or how she is able to guide them to success. In the time that follows, Ushna leads the gang to tremendous exploits, gaining the respect of the men, and the admiration of Jalan, who begins to fall passionately in love with this mysterious woman. As their success increases, seemingly unstoppable, so the love between Jalan and Ushna mounts in intensity, until they seem to have entered a world of their own. No longer heeding of the world around them, Jalan and Ushna venture too far in their exploits, progressing from the theft of material objects to tampering with elements that should never be tampered with; stealing energy, luck and even the powers of levitation, the two cross over into the bounds of the supernatural. Word of the duo and their strange exploits reaches the shrewd, robust Yeti (Naseeruddin Shah), who takes after them with his three experienced bounty hunters. In the confusion of pursuit, Jalan and Ushna face a temporary separation, the shock of which drives each to desperation. Having lost luck, wealth and friends, the fated two are nevertheless fortuitously reunited. Their passion running higher than ever, they vow never to be separated again, even if this entails deceiving fate and cheating mortality. But life always reserves surprises.

summary written by Monsoon Films (IMDB / http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0392883/plotsummary )