“The Quest for Tannu Tuva” follows Richard Feynman and Ralph Layton’s 10-year obsession with the remote region of Tuva in Russia.
Despite many setbacks, including rejection letters from Moscow, they remained determined to visit this country “where the reindeer meets the camel”.
I rank it #4 on my list of The 10 Best Richard Feynman Documentaries.
Note: “The Quest for Tannu Tuva” (from BBC TV’s Horizon) got remade with an American narrator in an almost-identical documentary called “The Last Journey of a Genius” (aired on PBS’s NOVA).
Watch “The Quest for Tannu Tuva”
You can watch “The Quest for Tannu Tuva” by clicking the video embed above.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 96/100
- IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: na
Release Date: Jul 4, 1988
Review of “The Quest for Tannu Tuva”
The documentary “The Quest for Tannu Tuva” centers on Feynman and his friend Ralph Layton’s 10-year interest in Tannu Tuva, a remote area now part of Russia.
Directed by Christopher Sykes, this 49-minute doc (from BBC/Horizon) was filmed just weeks before Feynman died.
Sykes uses Feynman’s Tuva fantasy as one of many ways Feynman explores his curiosity and love for learning.
Their journey began with Feynman teasing Layton about Tuva’s existence. They confirmed Tuva’s location using an encyclopedia.
Feynman became fascinated by Tuva, a remote and mysterious Asian country of Tuva. It was a country “where the reindeer meets the camel”.
They faced many challenges getting approval to visit Tuva, including rejection letters from In Tourist Moscow, but they never gave up.
They researched Tuva, including stories from Otto Mänchen-Helfen, a German historian who gave an eye-witness account of visiting Tuva in 1929.
This made Feynman and Layton even more interested. They also contacted Andar Dairuma from Tuva and Sevjan, who wrote a book about the region.
The film highlights Feynman and Layton’s creative efforts to visit Tuva.
They planned a museum exhibit exchange with artifacts from the Silk Road. This idea caught the interest of the Los Angeles County Museum curator.
Eventually, Vice President Velikov of the Soviet Academy of Sciences invites Feynman, his wife, and four colleagues to visit Tuva in May and June 1988, covering their expenses.
Unfortunately, Feynman died from cancer at age 69 on February 15, 1988. That was just weeks before he and his wife’s visas arrived.
The Challenger Disaster and Feynman’s Nobel Prize
The film shows Feynman’s mixed feelings about his Nobel Prize. He called it “a pain in the neck” because it brought a lot of attention he didn’t want.
Still, he was committed to finding the truth. This is clear from his work on the Challenger space shuttle disaster in January 1986.
In a letter to his wife and daughter during the Challenger investigation, Feynman wrote,
“This is an adventure as good as some of the others in my book. I already smell certain rats that I will not forget because I just love the smell of rats”.
-Richard Feynman
Feynman used a simple test with O-rings in ice water to show how cold affected their performance, which helped explain the accident.
He loved solving other puzzles, like the hieroglyphics of the Mayan Dresden Codex. Feynman reportedly cracked the Dresden Codex himself for fun.
Feynman’s playful side is also shown. He composed music for a ballet in San Francisco.
There are a many great Feynman quotes from this doc. Here are a couple:
“For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”
“I’m just looking to find out more about the world, and if it turns out there is a simple ultimate law that explains everything, so be it.”
This doc is a great watch for anyone interested in the mix of curiosity, science, and adventure.
Thanks for reading!
Rob Kelly, Chief Maniac, Daily Doc