Director Eric Valli's film "Himalaya", provides us with a remake of Howard Hawk's "Red River", in the context of competing Yak herders among the Himalayas. While constructed around a previously filmed concept, the specific context is so unique as to make it nearly a completely new film. Valli's major success within this film is the inclusion of cultural insight into the specific nature of the Yak Caravans. Valli understands the culture he is presenting, which makes the movie worth more than the story, because he had previously embarked upon an anthropological study of the real Yak caravans that wind their way throughout the Himalayas following the sparse grasses. The purpose of this paper is to examine the specific aspects of the film which bring to life the cultural realities of the communities portrayed within the contrivances of a film. 4 pgs, bibliography lists 4 sources.
