Tiger Cave Temple works on two levels, literally. At the bottom, in the shade of the forest and the overhanging limestone, are the caves that gave the monastery its name and its purpose: shelters used for meditation, where monks and lay practitioners follow a demanding contemplative discipline in the middle of a busy tourist province. Above, a staircase of more than a thousand irregular steps climbs the sheer karst tower to a summit shrine crowned by a golden Buddha, from where the whole Krabi plain, its scattered limestone peaks and the sea beyond open out. The film follows both the climb and the practice, giving space to the monastic community, the forest tradition it belongs to, and the pilgrims who make the ascent. Aerial and time-lapse sequences frame the karst landscape. A striking sacred-sites and travel title.
