Alan in Belfast: Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom – a journey of self-discovery to Bhutan’s most remote classroom (Queen’s Film Theatre until Tuesday 21 March)

The most reluctant student teacher you’ll ever encounter is dispatched to serve the local children of the most remote school in Bhutan, perhaps the most remote in the world. It’s an eight-day trek to get to the village with a population of 56 and an altitude of 4,800m. We witness the even longer journey for Ugyen Dorji (played by Sherab Dorji) to sort out his attitude problem. He’s leaving behind his girlfriend along with plans to bum around Australia singing in bars.

The experienced guides slowly wean Ugyen off his headphones and encourage him to appreciate the new customs and perspectives that await him. Out of his urban swim, he is introduced to a slower and more spiritual way of life. Superstitions matter. The reluctant teacher may arrive without much personal oomph, but if he can overcome his crisis of confidence and calling, he could bring hope and potential freedom and employability to a whole generation of children eager to learn. The film’s title – Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom – hints at the older and hairier ‘child’ who takes up residence at the back of the classroom – a practical step to provide kindling for the stove. (All will be revealed if you watch the film.)

This 109-minute Oscar-nominated film (Best International Feature) is slow-moving, perhaps in keeping with the village at the centre of the story. There are short jabs of conversation interspersed with unspoilt scenery that is staggeringly beautiful. There’s a Lord of the Rings feel to the plot (though none of the violence)which revolves around getting there; acclimatising and getting over yourself; not wanting to leave; and finally the trip home followed by what happens next.

There is novelty in watching a film made in and about Bhutan, that explores the geography and culture of the landlocked country in the Eastern Himalayas with a population two and a half times smaller than Northern Ireland. But Pawo Choyning Dorji’s feature debut is sickly sweet. There’s a total absence of peril, a minimum of delving into the detail of the downsides of being trapped in the remote region, and when the ‘hero’ falls for the choral charms of local lass Saldon (Kelden Lhamo Gurung), there’s not even a letter from his patient girlfriend to prick his conscience.

Ugyen may have gone on a journey of self-discovery, but his hesitancy unfortunately mirrored the whole film’s energy, leaving the children in his classroom more enthusiastic than this audience member. Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom is being screened at the Queen’s Film Theatre until Tuesday 21 March.