`THE CUP' RUNNETH OVER WITH EXILED TALENT.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

You've got to give Khyentse Norbu credit for being a first, if not exactly an original. His easy-to-like film ``The Cup'' is the first feature made in the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan, and it has got to be the first directed by a big-time Buddhist lama.

Surely, as well, this is the first film to examine the amusing non-conflict that apparently grips exiled Tibetan monks whenever World Cup soccer hits the airwaves. Chant or cheer - is there a predicament here? Well, sort of, but it's not that big an issue. Just something that fits snugly in the tradition of mischievous schoolboy comedies that can be found the world over, but arguably reached its warm, observant apex in the work of Japan's Yasujiro Ozu and India's Satyajit Ray, two of Norbu's acknowledged influences.

Most of the actors are refugee monks, too, including the father-and-son leads, Orgyen Tobgyal and Jamyang Lodro. Tobgyal's Geko is in charge of discipline at an exile monastery, and he has a hard time keeping the young novices' minds on prayer, meditation and the like when the world's distractions, as represented by Indians with satellite dishes, are so corruptibly nearby.

Lodro's 13-year-old Orgyen leads a small, fervid cell of football (soccer) fans within the junior ranks who will stop at nothing to catch the latest game from Paris, which is usually broadcast well past the hour when sacred hearts should be asleep.

A tough, obsessive runt with James Cagney charisma, Orgyen is always getting his buddies, including two new arrivals who've just escaped the Chinese communist regime back home, in Dutch. Meanwhile, Geko, who isn't quite as doctrinaire as the kids imagine, tries to explain the concept of competitive sports to the elderly, melancholy Abbot (Lama Chonjo, who in real life runs the monastery where ``The Cup'' was filmed).

As you might imagine, these mild culture clashes produce lots of light, behavioral humor. Of course, Norbu knows better than Western filmmakers of late do that Buddhist holy men are people, too, and ``The Cup's'' greatest value lies in its demystifying acknowledgment of these presumed saints' capacities for crankiness, selnterest, lust and roughhouse. The resourceful kids, it hardly needs mentioning, are adorable - shaved heads and all.

On the other end of the age spectrum, a crusty old prophet, who complains that people only want to hear good predictions, is described by all as smelly and is evidently played by some wizened guy who had never washed his hair before the movie makes him. Incredibly, all of the overwhelmingly amateur actors register credible, engaging performances. That's attributed in large part to the Tibetans' exceptional concentration, forged in extended group meditations - which the film shows as rife with note-passing, nodding off and irrepressible prankishness.

It's all too cute, in other words, but you've gotta love ``The Cup'' just the same. Go monks.

THE FACTS

--The film: ``The Cup''(G).

--The stars: Orgyen Tobgyal, Jamyang Lodro, Neten Chokling, Lama Chonjo.

--Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Khyentse Norbu. Produced by Malcolm Watson and Raymond Steiner. Released by Fine Line Features.

--Running time: One hour, 35 minutes.

--Playing: Music Hall, Beverly Hills; NuWilshire, Santa Monica.

--Our rating: three stars

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Box: THE FACTS (see text)