Kundun
1997
Martin Scorsese's telling of the life story of the 14th Dalai Lama is a spiritual and deeply moving event. Barely able to walk, the young Tenzin Gyatso (played respectively by Tulku Jamyang Kung Tenzin, Gyurme Tethong, and Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong) is identified as the newly reincarnated form of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. .. Read more
| Starring | Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong |
|---|---|
| Director | Martin Scorsese |
| Genres | Drama |
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Kundun
Martin Scorsese's telling of the life story of the 14th Dalai Lama is a spiritual and deeply moving event. Barely able to walk, the young Tenzin Gyatso (played respectively by Tulku Jamyang Kung Tenzin, Gyurme Tethong, and Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong) is identified as the newly reincarnated form of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Leaving his family behind in order to live in a monastery, he grows to manhood in spiritual isolation, sheltered from the influences of Western worldliness and the dangerous encroachment of the Chinese army, which invaded Tibet in 1950 and forced the Buddhist leaders into exile. Preaching peace and understanding among all people, the Dalai Lama eventually travels to China to meet Chairman Mao Tse Tung, to no avail. In a heartbreaking decision, the Dalai Lama must decide whether to remain in Tibet and fight for his people or flee his homeland and avert almost certain death.
Scorsese's obvious affection and dedication to the Tibetan leader shines through in every frame of the picture, which features stellar performances by its mostly nonprofessional cast. Adding infinite depth to the story are Roger Deakins's cinematography and Philip Glass's score, which earned both men Oscar nominations. Politics and religion aside, KUNDUN is filmmaking at its most profound and beautiful.
| Starring | Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong |
|---|---|
| Director | Martin Scorsese |
| Studio | WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 9 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 01 Apr 2004 Production year: 1997 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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Emerging from his usual gangster-ridden mean streets, director Martin Scorsese sets his sights higher to the wide-open Himalayan spaces for this biography of the Dalai Lama. Scorsese's epic follows the Tibetan leader from his supposed reincarnation as the son of a humble family, through his investiture and his attempts to build a working relationship with — and eventual rejection of — Chinese socialism to his exile. Trouble is, the screenplay (by Melissa Mathison, who also wrote the script for ET) paints too rosy a picture of Buddhism, never questioning a country in which priests and poor are set so far apart. Roger Deakins's photography, though, is as luminous as a halo.
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"...A stunning visual feast and a moving meditation on the difficulty of sustaining the Buddhist principle of nonviolence in a brutal world..." -- 4 out of 5 stars
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Most helpful member's review
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14 out of 14 people found this review helpful
Absolutely wonderful
I have seen this film several times, its one of those films you can watch over and over again.
Kundun is the story of the 14th Dali Lama, the most peaceful, truthful human being on this earth. The story follows how he is discovered then goes through his teachings and how he tried to keep the chinese out of tibet. Also it covers the german guy that taught him many ways of the west.
Martin Scorsese has directed this film showing how the buddist monks live and how the dali lama was brought up.
You just have to see this film to learn. -
Most recent members' review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
That Radio Times Review Misses The Point
Okay, it's a biopic about the Dali Lama, but it's done by Scorcese and I found it to be quite an underrated little film. A story which I didn't really know that much about, it was more than interesting to watch as the Nepalese gradually crumble under the threat of voilence from the Chinese. I didn't find that the film dragged thanks to a fantastic visual style that evoked many of the visual landscape/people documentaries like Baraka, Koyaanisqatsi and many photographs of such. It was that photography that really lifted this film over and above what I was expecting and not even yet another dreadful Philip Glass score could stop me from enjoying the look of the film. As for the Radio Times review above, the film does give gentle and subtle suggestions that the new Dali Lama was indeed ready to challenge the standard hierachy within Buddism so ignore what it says above because it's for you to judge.
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News and features
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Harrison Ford divorces
- 09 Jan 2004
Harrison Ford and his screenwriter wife of 18 years, Melissa Mathison, have divorced. The couple have been living apart since 2000, and filed for separation in August 2001 - citing irreconcilable differences. No details of the settlement or the custody arrangements for their two teenage children have been released. The couple met on the set of Vietnam war epic Apocalypse Now in 1979, in which Ford had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role as a bespectacled intelligence officer who briefs Martin Sheen Read more
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