Little Buddha (Ws)
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VHS Movie Reviews of Little Buddha (Ws)
Movie Review: East and West, of course they meet - they are One!
Summary: 5 Stars
At first sight, this may look like a movie about reincarnation, far from our bed. No! It is an excellent explanation of how Buddhism can be "the answer", also to people in the West. We see a Tibetan monk looking for the reincarnation of his master who died 8 years ago. He seems to find the reincarnated old monk in the form of 8-year old Jesse, a typical American kid. Now, Jesse's typical American family thinks that Buddhism is weird, "what have we got to do with that?", and they kind of want to ignore the Tibetan monk. The Americans have their own life, no place for Buddhism there. Then all kinds of things start happening in the Americans' lives: the man's partner goes bankrupt, he later kills himself, etc. That is when, suddenly, the American man sees that in his way of life, he has no way of dealing with these things, and that Buddhism on the other hand is exactly talking about these things that happen in everybody's lives: loss, change, suffering, death and how to deal with them. That is where the 2 story lines beautifully merge into one story: the Westerners see that Buddhism talks about their life in Seattle as much as about life in the Himalayas. The old monk can now safely die, his mission accomplished. In fact at that point in the movie the 2 stories also merge with the third story line, the re-telling of the life of the historical Buddha. Thus, the life of Buddha, the crisis in the life of the Western people, and the story of the Tibetan monks and their search for meaning, all become one. One. The last scene of the movie says it all: the American child (wise like a little Buddha), floats the Tibetan monk's ashes on the river in Seattle, WA. His mother is looking on, smiling, pregnant with a new baby. Another little buddha on the way. Hmmm, didn't the old monk just die? ...Movie Review: Confusion
Summary: 2 Stars
Lemme confess right up front. I stopped watching after 90 minutes, and it only went on that long because I was too exhausted to find the remote.
Bernardo Bertolucci won an Oscar for directing THE LAST EMPEROR, and I don't know anyone who'd deny he deserved it. I won't. That was a fine film in many ways. But let me focus on just two ways. They're minor, but bear with me. Set design and educational value.
Now let us move on to LITTLE BUDDHA. When a Tibetan lama dies, they search for the person into which he was reincarnated and give him the lama job. Okay. I've got nothing against the Buddhists, so let's pretend they're right.
We have a little boy in Seattle who is the reincarnation of Lama Dodje. Well, I saw two other candidates, but there's no suspense in this. The cover has that little blonde boy amongst a bunch of shaved-head monk boys, all in robes. Plus, he gets way too much airtime. I stopped at 90 minutes, but I know he's the guy. There is no suspense.
The parents in Seattle. If I didn't have the dialogue to guide me, I'd never know what emotions they're showing us. They cannot act. But to be fair, in this film, who could? They're an engine to drive the plot, and if there were any way the author could've made the boy an orphan who just appeared in Bhutan one day with no life prior to that, he would've done it. They're that irrelevant.
The story, such as it is, alternates. The boy is obsessed with reading the book these monks gave him. About Siddharta, who we assume he's gonna try to emulate. We see the story, we see his lame life, we see the story, we see his lame life, etc. Finally, at last, eventually, after much stalling, he's in Bhutan. Yay!
The sets were gorgeous. Same as THE LAST EMPEROR. And I assume the director/author (same guy) was trying to teach me something about Tibetan Buddhism which I already know. I studied world religions a long time ago. But, what is he trying to tell me? I don't know. He's barking with all he's got, but I don't know that Timmy fell in the well again. I came away from this knowing it's a "message movie" but with no idea what the message was.
So, we have a movie with no character development, no witty dialogue, no plot, no entertainment value. And I don't get its message, which I assume is its reason for existence. Thus, I can see no reason to watch it. Instead, dig up your battered old copy of THE LAST EMPEROR and watch it again. I wish I could find mine...
Movie Review: Feeling and learning the Impermanence
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie moves my heart in many ways. My dad died the same year this movie was released, so the message hitted me in my soul. Impermanence of things and the world we live in. A Mother's and Father's love. The story of Siddharta that created the whole Buddhism religion. Adults and children can relate to the search for something more. We all fear death. This movie makes us wonder why. But the way Bertolucci creates the moods and the looks of stories that are separated by time and space is the most beautiful thing of all. The last frame after the credits made me shudder. We are only dust. That powerful image had stayed with me for years. This is your only chance to make things right and to live.I recommend this movie to all of us who had lost someone we deeply loved.Movie Review: The Prince of Enlightenment.....
Summary: 5 Stars
Even Bernardo Bertolucci couldn't break Keanu out of his "Dude" persona from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. However, cinematically this film captures the beauty of Tibet and the subtle serenity of Buddhist life. Reeves pulls off Prince Siddartha ok but it's the "Little Buddha" reincarnation who steals the film.Movie Review: Beautifully Weaved Story Between Ancient Wisdom and the Modern World
Summary: 5 Stars
The storyline is excellent, switching between the ancient story of Siddhartha and the story of the modern world's struggle in opening the mind and hearts to alternative spiritual teaching flawlessly. I watched this movie when I was a teenager with English as my second language. Maybe it was my age back then, maybe it was the fact I was not fluent in English ... Maybe I was not brought up as learning the teachings of Buddhism. I was attracted to the movie but couldn't get much out of it. I think what was truly missing back then for me was that I did not have a spiritual teacher to guide me through the background of Buddhism.
Now, as a grown-up, as I continue learning and expanding my interest and knowledge about spirituality (including Buddhism), I found this movie's storyline is beautifully weaved to allow the Western World see the ancient wisdom the Tibet Buddhism is trying to tell us. This movie is an extremely brief introduction of the whole new spiritual world.
Although I have to admit Keanu Reeves has the facial feature of Siddhartha compare to other Hollywood stars, I was a little disappointed at Keanu Reeves' acting in this movie. I couldn't really feel Siddhartha's spirit in this actor. Siddhartha was in a mission to learn about suffering and helping us see the illusions we create in the world .... In search of the truth about the Universe. But personally, I couldn't really see it in the eyes of this particular actor. But I guess Siddhartha's life is probably one of the hardest to act on ... For, one has to have a deep understanding about Siddhartha's quest to free human beings from suffering ... which not many of us can truly understand that with our hearts.
Buddhism is certainly not the only road to Enlightenment ... (Well, why are we on the road by the way if the teachings are about being fully in the present moment anyway, learning about the laws of impermanence and non-judgment?) But this movie certainly opened an alternative door for each of us learning about compassion and love to ourselves, others and the Universe. This movie is brief ... If your heart is intrigued to learn more about this religion, go with your heart. The United States is very much dominated by Christianity ... Yet, I hold the belief that Christianity is not the only truth. It is the 21st century now. Let us move forward and open our minds to different spiritual teachings before we shut any doors down ... Don't let judgment and prejudice impair our full ability to learn and value religious differences. Let our hearts decide which belief system we choose to adopt as an adult.
Thank you for reading.