In order to tell a story having the face of a character in front of you can help to have a foundation as a writer. In the case of Pema Tseden’s “Tharlo” a face was indeed the starting point first for his novel and later on its film adaptation, the image of a man with a ponytail, as he explains in an interview with Tony Huang. In general, the physical features, especially the face, may lead to various associations about the personality, the occupation, the family as well as the various experiences the character has gone through or has to go through since these are part of the story you want to tell. Considering this was Tseden’s starting point it should not come as a surprise he has made a feature about the struggle with one’s identity, about the longing to deviate from a path which feels it has been determined by outside forces or, to be more precise, the image others have of you.

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After he has been called in by the local police chief, sheep herder Tharlo (Shide Nyima), nicknamed “Ponytail” for his haircut, has to get an ID card. Even though he really does not see the necessity in having one, the chief insists, sending him into town to take a picture and come back with it. However, as the photographer remarks the scruffy look of his hair, he is eventually ordered to the barber, a young woman named Yangtso (Yang Shik Tso), to have his hair washed. Tharlo strikes a conversation with the barber, who is also flirting with him and, after his picture has been taken, the two spent the night together, drinking and singing karaoke.

The next morning, Tharlo has a hangover and immediately wants to return to his herd and the police station, when Yangtso talks to him about leaving the small town for good, possibly building a future together. Seemingly without giving it another thought, Tharlo leaves, brings the picture to the police chief and returns to his sheep. Nevertheless, the words of the young barber have struck a chord within the sheep herder who cannot stop thinking about her words, leading him to make a drastic decision about the course of his life.

Essentially, a character like Tharlo is a wholly unremarkable person, a figure likely to be ignored, and to some degree, an outcast to society. In many ways, he does not seem to care all that much about these attitudes, he has made his peace with people ignoring him and reducing him to his most recognizable feature, his ponytail. To his own surprise, he has accepted this notion to such a degree that his real name sounds somewhat odd to him, makes him almost laugh, as he admits several times in the film. Consequently, he also does not understand the notion of the ID card, which seems so necessary to other people, a concept which may indeed be regarded as the root for the troubles he experiences in the film.

As we progress into the story, the theme of identity is divided into three parts, each showing how the character changes from being “Ponytail” to “Tharlo” and finally into a person that has yet to be defined. The deadpan expression of actor Shide Nyima is the perfect image to emphasize the growing sense of dislocation and unrest the character feels, with even the landscape he had called his home for such a long time, now turned into a lifeless, desolate and even threatening space, one he cannot call his home anymore and which is most certainly not part of himself anymore. Especially this part is shot wonderfully, with DOP Lu Songye mostly relying on wide shots underlining the contrast between the seeming freedom and open space of the countryside, which increasingly feels awkward to the main character.

In the end, “Tharlo” is a great movie about a person’s quest to change and the repercussions of this process. Especially the shots of the landscape as well as the performances define this rather interesting and insightful story about identity.