We might expect to see "Free Tibet" on a graffiti-covered wall near an exiled Tibetan monastery in the Himalayas, but what are "France" and "Brazil" doing on the wall? And what is the deal with the prayer flags for these two countries?

We expect Buddhist monks in training to be very somber and meditative at all times, and expect them to be detached from all worldly cares, even if France and Brazil are playing in the finals of the World Cup.

Not so in The Cup (Phörpa). For the first time, a true picture of the ascetic lifestyle inside a Buddhist monastery emerges on celluloid. The Cup proves the monks are far more human than stereotypes have led us to believe. After working many years with "stoic" Navajo people, I suspected that the stoic Buddhist monks were likewise very human. Norbu's film confirms this.

Based on a true story, The Cup is filmed by Buddhist monk Khyentse Norbu from Bhutan. Although Norbu never received formal training in filmmaking, he served as an apprentice under Bernardo Bertolucci in Little Buddha, and received his cinematic training by watching many films. This is Norbu’s first feature, but it will not be his last.

In the beginning, a group of red and saffron-robed trainees kicking around a Coke can, soccer style. The schoolmaster breaks up the game and retrieves the can, which soon becomes part of a Coke-can shrine/incense holder for the Buddha—one of many connections between the sacred and the secular world.

Norbu shows monastery life as he experienced it. One of the young students continually falls asleep during chants, and many of the young teens show keen interest in soccer magazines and pictures of young women in swimsuits. (They are quick to hide these and chant loudly whenever Geko, the schoolmaster, walks by.)

Orgyen (Jamyang Lodro), a charismatic young trainee who is fanatically devoted to soccer, serves as protagonist. With the World Cup in progress, he sneaks out of the monastery late nights to watch matches on a black-and-white television. He also has a soccer shrine above his bed with his favorite players’ pictures posted.

Norbu quite naturally weaves a few political statements into The Cup without overdoing it. Though Orgyen likes France because they are the only country to loyally support Tibet, he quite perceptibly analyzes the United States’ position on the issue, stating that "America is scared shitless of China."

Illuminating the political situation, two young Tibetan boys, Palden and Nylma, escape Tibet and arrive at the Tibetan monastery-in-exile. Here they receive their shaved haircuts and their orientation into monastic life.

Norbu wisely steps quickly away from making The Cup a pure political statement (our young protagonist does not reciprocate his loyalty to France). Instead, Orgyen loves Brazil and his favorite player, Renaldo, who plays for this traditional Latin American soccer power.

Like many foreign films, the plot remains extremely simple. It revolves around Orgyen’s efforts to get the abbot to let the monastery see the World Cup final on a rented television and satellite dish. After permission is granted, the challenge becomes gathering sufficient funds to pay for the rental services.

This may not be exciting fare for anyone looking for great conflicts an action-filled plot. What would you expect from inside a Buddhist monastery, anyway?

The Cup is a character-driven vehicle, especially getting inside soccer-fanatic Orgyen, and find that the young monk has a lot of compassion without being clobbered over the head with didactic preaching.

When Orgyen slips out of the World Cup because he is concerned about hurting young Nylma’s feelings, another side of Geko (Orgyen Tobgyal), the school master, emerges. And when Orgyen tells him why he is concerned and why he has left the televised game, Geko assures him that the abbot will take care of the expenses.

Geko actually praises Orgyen in a backhanded way, saying that "he will make a fine monk because he is such a bad businessman."

If a problem can be solved, why be unhappy? If a problem cannot be solved, what’s the use of being unhappy?