Throughout “The Monk and the Gun,” there are many references to Western culture, specifically emphasizing its insertion into a country that, for many years, remained relatively isolated from the influences of Western traditions due to their geography, making foreign visitors difficult, and less of a presence of modern technology as a result. This commentary is most prevalent in the movie through the gun motif. When Tashi is asked to acquire a gun by his lama, the movie suggests that it will be used for a violent purpose. However, later in the film, Director Dorji contrasts the audience’s expectations, as the gun is used in the film’s climax during a ceremony of peace and embracing change. The weapon is buried deep into the ground. In several instances, the film emphasizes the monk’s innocence toward the capacity for violence of the weapon he is holding. Being unexposed to the impacts of mass weaponry, such as the assault weapon he acquires, the monk serves as commentary for what Bhutan once was before Western influences started to become more widely circulated. 

This theme of isolation is present in much of the film. The Bhutanese people are portrayed as an isolated nation where even the presence of a television is seen as a symbol of wealth. As the director points out during an interview, at the time that the film is set in, Bhutan was “the last country in the world to allow television, the last country in the world to allow internet.” Therefore, the film emphasizes a transitional period where Bhutan was becoming more open and interactive with the broader international community. This evolution is emphasized in several aspects of the movie’s mise-en-scene, such as a scene depicting an action movie playing in a convenience store. The movie introduces how Western influences began integrating into the nation. 

While “The Monk and the Gun” tells a simpler narrative, the film’s rich historical context speaks of Bhutan’s democratization. Dorji notes that this is a film about a loss of innocence, with Bhutanese audiences “crying because they related to that period in [their]history when [they]tried to become modern and [they]were losing their innocence.” 

The story of how Bhutan transitioned to democracy is incredibly unique, demonstrated in “The Monk and the Gun” through the mock election plot, which serves as a backdrop to the film’s events. The king who ruled during the early 2000s in Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, was very popular. When he decided to abdicate the throne shortly before Bhutan’s first democratic election for prime minister, citizens were devastated. In interviews, one citizen described being “shell-shocked and cry[ing]when [they]heard the news of [their]king deciding to step down.” Others, “unable to come to terms with the news, joined hundreds of Buddhist monks to hold prayers.” However, the King insisted that the world was changing, arguing that “the king becomes the leader only by accident of birth and not by merit or virtue, and that the future of a country in the hands of such a person is not in the long-term interest of the country.” Unlike many other nations, there was no revolution in hopes of establishing a democracy, instead, the monarchy decided on its own to transition the nation into a Constitutional democracy. 

This shocking transition is reflected in “The Monk and the Gun” in several scenes, including a moment near the beginning of the film in which it is noted that voting registration rates for the mock election are very low. However, as the film progresses, registration rates sharply rise as the country acclimates to its new system of government. The mock election specifically references a true mock election that the country of Bhutan held in which over 125,000 citizens showed up to vote. At the time of Bhutan’s democratization, other South Asian countries trying to transition to a democratic system were facing government destabilization with coup-d’etats taking place throughout the early 2000s, such as Thailand in 2006. Because of this, many Bhutanese were content to keep the stable monarchy they already had. 

The unique circumstances in Bhutan involved a monarch voluntarily relinquishing control against the people’s wishes. The king decided to establish a new system based on what he saw as the newfound culture of the 21st century. Because of this decision, Western culture started flowing into a previously unintroduced country to outside influences. Since democratization, several reforms were made, such as decreasing the rate of extreme poverty and increasing focus on healthcare, education and infrastructure within the country. However, “The Monk and the Gun” reminds the public that this came at the expense of a loss of isolated culture as Western democratic traditions and technologies are now largely incorporated in the country. Today, Bhutan is proportionally one of the most technologically connected nations which has perpetuated systematic disadvantages to some groups. For example, the new age of internet in Bhutan has disadvantaged women who often left school earlier on than boys and thus have less of a technological education. 

Given the reactions of Bhutanese audiences to “The Monk and the Gun,” it is clear that while the country looks different today as more power is given to the citizens, nostalgia for the past remains.

Macron is now the first French president in history to openly endorse Corsican autonomy, saying in his address, “Let us have the audacity to build a Corsican autonomy within the [French] Republic.” In 2022, French officials began discussing potentially granting Corsica greater autonomy after the death of a prominent nationalist figure, Yvan Colonna. Colonna had been imprisoned for killing Claude Erignac, a top French government official stationed in Corsica, in 1998. However, since then, not much has changed for the island. Macron’s words are therefore poised to open the issue up to debate once more. 

However, rather than promoting unconditional autonomy for Corsica, Macron’s speech was more nuanced in its message. The French President made it clear that the potential new rights being given to Corsica will only be granted conditionally. The island will “not be [granted]autonomy against the state, nor autonomy without the state.” Currently Corsica is classified as a “territorial collectivity,” meaning the nation has its own assembly elected by Corsican people which is able to legislate on local affairs. However, the French government still has ultimate control. Although the official status of the island may be changed with the Corsican people being more powerful over their own land, that power only extends until they attempt to separate or go against France. 

Macron’s words are a step in the right direction, but it is only one story in the long history of Corsica’s nationalist movement for greater rights from France. The island has its own unique language and culture separate from the mainland French population. In fact, much of Corsican culture, especially its language, is more closely aligned with Italian traditions. This is due to the long period of control by the Republic of Genoa from the 13th-18th centuries before the French became in control. One of the main demands of nationalists today is the equal emphasis in education to the Corsican and French languages. 

The uniqueness of Corsican culture has generated widespread nationalist sentiment throughout the nation, particularly over the last 40 years. Some argue for more autonomy for the island, such as greater control over the economy and the island’s governance, while separatists call for a complete separation from the French. 

One of Corsica’s most notable separatist groups is the Corsica National Liberation Front or FLNC, a violent, nationalist political organization formed in 1976, a year which marked the beginning of the Corsican conflict between this group and French militarints. The FLNC is a separatist organization which believes in a complete severing of their land from French control. Since the 1980s, the group has claimed responsibility for hundreds of bombings, particularly targeting buildings and homes owned by non-Corsican settlers, who the FLNC believed were representations of the continued presence of outsiders on their land. This period of armed resistance was marked by guerilla tactics, including assassinations of political figures, such as Claude Erignac. However, the group officially ended its use of violence for political means in 2014. 

This shift in ideology came after the Corsican assembly passed a few major separatist demands, including establishing Corsican as a co-official language alongside French. Also passed was a mandatory minimum five-year residency requirement in order to be able to purchase property, as well as an amendment to the French constitution which could open the door to greater administrative authority in Corsica. 

However, many Corsicans felt that these accomplishments were unlikely to become a reality. The demands which had been granted by the Corsican assembly would then have to be passed by the French government in a constitutional amendment. At the time, France was still unwilling to discuss conditions of a more autonomous Corsica. So, although armed resistance stopped, the demands of nationalists were never fulfilled. 

In response to this popular discontent, a political alliance known as Pe a Corsica (For Corsica) formed in 2015 when separatist group Corsica Libera joined with the more moderate pro-autonomy group, Femu a Corsica (Let’s Make Corsica). This alliance enjoyed electoral success immediately after its founding until it was dissolved following the 2021 elections due to dissension within the group. 

In 2015, Pe a Corsica won more than 35% of the vote, approaching a majority in the local authority council by winning 24 of 51 seats. The leader of the alliance, Gilles Simeoni, former mayor of Bastia and lawyer for Yvan Colonna, was elected the president of the executive council of Corsica. Later, in 2017, Pe a Corsica accumulated more seats, winning 56.5% of the votes in the second round. It is clear that nationalist sentiment remains strong among the Corsican people, including in the last election in 2021 with the percentage of pro-autonomy control rising to 57.7%. 

Yet despite Pe a Corsica’s control over the local assembly, not much progress was actually made in terms of Corsican rights because the assembly’s control over legislation is limited by the French government. In 2019, revision to the French Constitution fell through which would have upgraded Corsica’s status to a “Special Status Community,” granting greater rights of self-legislation to Corsicans, a fact which some French governmental officials worried would weaken the French parliament. 

Following the death of prominent separatist leader Yvan Colonna in 2022, Corsica saw large protests, as people took to the streets blaming the French government for his death. These protests were especially inspired by Colonna’s role as a major figurehead for the Corsican nationalist movement. After Colonna was arrested for the assisination of Claude Erignac, he was imprisoned on the French mainland as a political prisoner. However, many protestors believed that Colonna should be moved to a prison in Corsica. The French government only agreed to the demands after Colonna had been seriously injured from the incident, later dying from these injuries. Protests ramped up after Colonna’s death, arguing that this failure to listen to the demands earlier on led to his death. Protestors adopted the slogan “Statu Francese Assassinu” (The French State is an Assassin), and took to the streets to argue for their island’s rights. 

Despite opportunities for change, including the 2019 amendment to the French constitution, the French government has stood in the way, leading Corsicans to remain frustrated with the lack of progress. Macron may have promised to reopen the conversation over Corsica’s status; however, the island’s future remains uncertain. Corsican autonomy has been a taboo subject for the French government despite the over 50 year long history of nationalist movements on the island. Through understanding this historical context we can hope to see a change in the relationship between Corisca and France, a change that according to Macron, may be coming very soon.