Where Was the Sangha?

This wasn't really isolated. As we can see, the two girls visit the monastery in the beginning, and then the two police officers come, and then a mother with child later. Obviously the monastery is known about in the community. Maybe the community is also very small (we can't really tell)?

So the Sangha is there but just really small; it's just how it's manifested in this area.

I think if it were truly isolated then we wouldn't see the continuation of the temple through the generations.

Because the film was never intended as a pocket book guide to Buddhism that some people seem to see it as.

I thought that was the least of its problems from a Buddhist perspective, but yeah, it's best viewed as a stylized romance with spiritualism.

-I really find difficult.. dialogue with mosquito and my pain.

I am a Zen hermit. Beware of people who pound the "sangha" drum; this is often a weapon used to exploit those who would practice the Dharma. Buddhism is a religion of enlightenment, not of "community", or anything else. Activities that lead to that are "Buddhist"; those that don't, are not. If sangha gets you to enlightenment, awesome. If not, kill it. (That is, redefine it in effective terms.)

In the context of the film, the little boy is not a "novice". He's an orphan. Orphaned and unwanted children have long been left for temples and monasteries to raise in Asia. The monks do this out of compassion; their charges are not automatically considered monks-in-training.

Finally, I'm threatened by your dismissal of my entire practice as "romantic". Any damned abbot who comes in to my camp thinking to "oversee" me better be carrying a bigger stick than mine. I walk the Buddha's path, period. No time for sergeants.

Robin
Rusty Ring: Reflections of an Old-Timey Hermit

Disagree, cjmarbutt. My practice of Buddhism is very much DIY. That's one of the things that really attracted me to it in the first place.