Rating: 
Summary: You will want to watch Kundun over and over again.
Review: After watching Kundun twice at the theatre, I had to buy a copy of the film on DVD. Kundun is one of the most beautiful and thought provoking films I have ever seen. As well as the wonderful colourful scenes, and the inspiring soundtrack (by Philip Glass), I felt a closeness to the characters. Kundun revealed the Dalai Lama as a very human person, someone that anyone could identify with. Owning Kundun on DVD will allow you to watch the scenes (you'll probably end up watching the whole movie) you love time and time again.
Rating:
Summary: The best movie I've seen involving the Dalai Lama!!
Review: This movie was Awsome! If you know anything about the Dalai Lama or just want to find out more about him this is the movie to see!! The movie had aspects of the the Dalai Lama's life that you wouldn't see or hear about unless you read about him. If you have any taste in movies whatsoever you'll like this film!
Rating:
Summary: *Pretty near* perfect
Review: 5 stars + infinity
First, let me explain that I absolutely love the film Kundun.
I beleive it is a true work of art/ labor of love that didn't receive the recognition it so much deserves.
Let me skip to the big point-- the last 10 minutes of this film is a near perfect blend of music, film and editing that is spot- on for the subject matter, which is enlightenment.
My guess is that a *very conscious* person had a lot to do with the creation, blending & timing of the music, script and film, especially for the last ten minutes-- OR that it was a total coincidence that it came out to be so near perfect. (either is very much in keeping with the movie's theme, which IMHO is NOT the Dalai Lama at all, but enlightenment)
Not for everyone, and I'm afraid I may have built it up in your mind too highly, so that you'll feel let down by the actual experience of the film & music itself, I can say that *everytime* I watch or listen to the last ten minutes (titled Escape to India), I cry for joy at *experiencing* a few minutes of the most sublime enlightenment, insight, sorrow & simple wonder at being alive in this dance of life myself, with you.
... and I'm not even Budhist.
Thank you, Martin Scorcese, Phillip Glass and all involved in this brilliant study of how a culture's focus on a single individual being assumed to be & treated as enlightened-- and his training to actually act the part, resulted in a person of great compassion, richness and insight.
In other words, their culture made him enlightened by treating him as enlightened.
What if we were all assumed to be enlightened and treated as such-- what difference would that make to you, at this very moment, dear reader, to live in such a world, as you absorb these words, now?
If that sentence has any impact on you at all, then you'll likely be *deeply moved* by both the movie and soundtrack.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but ...
Review: I could have given it a higher rating if the film has more emotional impact and the main characters speak their natural languages. Every time someone opens their mouth, I was constantly and immediately reminded that it is a (made in Hollywood) movie after all.
Rating: 
Summary: Good film, slow but.
Review: As a previous reviewer has stated, the first few minutes of this movie are agonizingly slow. Thankfully the pace picks up later on, but only slightly. I found myself wondering if Scorsese had really directed this movie, since it seemed very different from his other projects.
The best part of Kundun was that it made me aware of the plight of the Tibetan people. But as with any one sided view of the events, especially on film, I was not quick to label the Chinese the bad-guys. The movie's focus is on the life of the Dalai Lama, and how he was raised up to rule his people. I have to admit that at times I found myself questioning the wisdom of trusting the destiny of a whole people to a little boy; it seemed like the stuff legends were made of, not how countries in the 21st century should be run.
The boy did grow into a man however, and he matured fairly quickly. Much credit must be given to the system that transformed him. Although this is a very Buddhist film, I concentrated on the political struggle between this midget; Tibet and its giant neighbor, China. If there is any value in Kundun, it is that it made me want to know more about the history of Tibet and its relationship with the Chinese. There are, to its credit, little snippets of information in the movie itself, especially the meeting between Chairman Mao and the young Dalai Lama.
I would give this 3 1/2 stars, because I thought Scorsese could have made this a better movie had he not relied so much on cinematography and concentrated more on the drama, that's just my opinion though. I would recommend this movie to you if you are interested in a brief, if one sided, overview of the situation between Tibet and China.
Rating:
Summary: pretty but lifeless
Review: Back in the late 90s Hollywood went crazy for Eastern religions. Although the public wasn't interested they churned out one solemn movie on this subject after another. One of these was Kudun. It's very slow paced and if you are one of those people who needs to figure out a movie in the first ten minutes or you become cranky this isn't the film for you. To be honest, it's more like a historical paegent than a movie. It's beautiful to look at but it's so stiff and artificial that I think Martin Scorsese could've used puppets and gotten the same effect.
If you want to watch pretty scenary and costumes Kundun will be enough. If you want the true history of Tibet you'll have to go much further than this.
Rating:
Summary: An undertaking of courage
Review: When the hollywood movie industry and America in general is trying to appease the Chinese government for economic gains, it took a lot of courage to take this subject on and make the movie. It's very commendable of Scorcese. No wonder Hollywood spurned it at the Oscars. At the very least there is a lot of unique, stunning, and ground breaking style and imagery in the movie that the subject brought out. But then this movie isn't for everyone. I've been in interested in Tibet since I was very young and I don't think this movie was intended to be a history lesson, but rather a tribute and representation of a unique spiritual life. The Dalai Lama is an inspirational human being and leader and it's great to see a movie on it that just has tibetan actors. It is hard to compare the real Dalai Lama with the young character in the movie, but one has to realize the burden on young shoulders of having to choose the method of saving his country and people.
Rating:
Summary: A visual and musical poem of an important religious leader
Review: Because of his place in American Pop Conciousness, the Dali Lama too often suffers from shallow treatment and cartoonish representation because of his association with famous personalities. In reality, he is a serious religious figure and deserves serious treatment. This movie is a serious and, I think, beautifully poetic attempt to tell the story of his youth through his escape from Tibet into exile as the Communist Chinese closed their grasp on his sad homeland. The images are powerful and the Philip Glass score supports the visual means of telling the story very well.I have no idea how much of the miraculous nature of the selection of Kundun as the Dali Lama or his remembering of his previous lives is based in perceived reality or is just poetry, but certainly the Dali Lama deserves some iconographical treatment. For me, a most powerful scene occurs when Kundun has his last conversation with Mao and finally realizes his betrayal. In this scene Mao tells him that religion is poison in a most callous and condescending manner. In this, I see the emptiness of modern materialism and its inability to see anything of value in the spiritual and traditional. There is blindness in materialism's view favoring the new and the present as necessarily being progress over the past. It sees technology as always an improvement (it is the flip side of the coin of those who believe that all technology is soulless and evil). This isn't an adventure film and certainly nothing like Scorsese's more famous and violent films. But I think he has accomplished something beautiful here and I have enjoyed watching it several times. "Seven Years in Tibet" tells the same story a bit differently and less poetically and has the complication of the Brad Pitt's character being, well, a Nazi. But I think seeing both movies adds to one's understanding rather than seeing either of them alone.
|
