The Horse Thief Themes

The Horse Thief’s is a very minimalistic film. It has very little dialogue and a simple plot. However, the film, as a whole, could not be considered simple. The film uses visuals to tell most of the story resulting in a film full of complex imagery to ensure that the themes and story are received by the audience. One of the themes in the movie is religion. Despite having a large focus on the Tibetan Buddhist practices and ceremonies, the film conveys the message that one’s religious standing is effected only by one’s faith and intentions. Having the Horse Thief be devout during the whole film even though he does not participate in the ceremonies and is renounced by members of the village and temple shows that faith is not dependent on those things. To fully participate in the religious ceremonies, one needed to buy items used in the ceremony. In the beginning of the film, Horse Thief buys “glue” to use in the ceremony for the God of the mountain. After his family is expelled from the village, he is unable to participate in the ceremonies because he is too poor to spend money on things not needed for his survival. He is …show more content…
Throughout the film is made clear that the Horse Thief is not a bad person and that his intentions are good. When shown stealing, he is very generous to the men he is stealing from and gives a majority of the stuff stolen to the temple. He also goes as far as to pay for the necklace he takes to give to his son. Even when he kills the sheep meant for the ceremony, it is emphasized that it is done for his family survival. Despite doing things considered as bad, at the end of the film it is implied that his dead body has been eaten by vultures and, therefore, has gone to heaven. This is all done to show that if one truly intends to do good then you will be considered