Lost Horizon: Frank Capra's Tibetan Shangri-La as Depression Era Utopian Dream

The movies have always been an escapist recreation. In 1937 when Frank Capra's Lost Horizon hit theatres, the same year the United States' economy took a nosedive in the heart of the Great Depression, the need for this escape had never been greater. Taking a cue from James Hilton's novel, Capra translates the notion of Hilton's Tibetan Shangri-la into one accessible and palatable to the Western spectator's contemporary dream, that of a return to the pre-Depression prosperity of the Twenties. Symbolic and discreet mise-en-scène allow for an easy transition from screen to mind as Capra delivers, not the Shangri-La of Tibet, but that of an idyllic Western society.

Lost Horizon's Shangri-La is presented as a utopian haven protected from harm by the very impenetrable, craggy mountains that make it so inaccessible. While the actual Tibet is indeed a mountainous place, the dichotomy between paradise, Shangri-La, and hell, the surrounding mountains, pictured in the film is far more stark than that of the more moderate transition between desert and mountains of the true Tibet.

For the American public, this fantasy of an oasis of hope among, what had become for them, a quotidian adversity was utterly compelling. Having little left to aspire to, the notion that a divine refuge could be discovered in even such an inhospitable place as the precipitous Himalayas left no reason for it not to be found, for example, on the streets of New York as well.

In the film, "Tibet" as the setting is scarcely mentioned; the focus is on their presence in Shangri-La, more a mystical state of mind than tangible locale. For Lost Horizon's audience, Shangri-La becomes an easily accessible dream kept alive by their own desires for its validity. This point is most blatantly observed in Lord Gainsford's closing reflections, "I believe it, because I want to believe it...Here's my hope that we all find our Shangri-La."

With its modern, streamlined buildings filled to the brim with material possessions of diverse Western cultural importance, Capra's Shangri-La takes the best of Western civilization and attempts to shield it from corruption by its own creators. An impressive cache of worldly goods stands in opposition to the fact that the inhabitants of the city's access to the outside world lies with unscrupulous traders who visit only rarely.

The "best of both worlds" concept is fundamental to Shangri-La's appeal. One of the clearest examples of this, besides its rather inconspicuous position in the background mise-en-scène, is the fact that the same marble bust presides over both Chang's office in Shangri-La and Lord Gainsford's office in London. While this is a more literal expression of this concept, there are other representations of Shangri-La as a Western idyll found in the film that are farther reaching though of a lower-profile.

The audience of the day would probably not think twice about the fact that all the Tibetan Lamas act more like soft-spoken Catholic priests than true adherents of Buddhism, or that the outdoor country scenes depict a meadowy, verdant forest more resembling that of northern California than rain-deprived Tibet. They would, however, have noticed and approved of the High Lama's sentiment that, "the Christian ethic may at last be fulfilled."

A perfect missionary state, the High Lama, a man originally from Western Europe, creates in Shangri-La an authentic intermediary between heaven and earth - sans the mess of the Buddhism question. The only things indicating a Tibetan presence whatsoever are the visual cultural identity of the "natives" and the clothing worn by the stranded party (despite the more westernized versions sported by the integral characters like Conway and Sondra). Even these articles more closely resemble Chinese dressing gowns than anything truly Tibetan.

Frank Capra's delight of a film Lost Horizon, in conclusion, is clearly not a viable representation of Tibet. However, as the film is not a documentary but a fictionalized adaptation, the intent was to inspire and uplift the downtrodden American masses, not to provide accurate details of life in a faraway land. Only by using Tibet, a land shrouded in mystery and virtually unknown to the average man, as a backdrop for the film, is Capra able to give rise to the notion that a Shangri-La may indeed still be waiting somewhere to be found.

Works Cited
Frank Capra "Lost Horizon" Columbia Pictures 1937