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| Kundun | |
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| Directed by | Martin Scorsese |
| Produced by | Barbara De Fina |
| Written by | Melissa Mathison |
| Distributed by | Touchstone Pictures (USA) |
| Release date(s) | 1997 |
| Running time | 134 min |
| Language | English Tibetan Mandarin |
| IMDb profile | |
Kundun is a 1997 film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Melissa Mathison. It is based on the life and writings of the Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet. Both Scorsese and Mathison (along with several other members of the production) were banned by the Chinese Government from ever entering China as a result of making the film. Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, who played the adult Dalai Lama, is his grand nephew.
The film did poorly at the box office, but was generally praised by film critics. Some criticized the movie as hagiographic,[1] but many found it exceptionally moving and stunning, even within Scorsese's impressive oeuvre. Some — notably Jonathan Rosenbaum and Charles Taylor — consider it to be among Scorsese's finest films.
The name "Kundun" is a title by which the Dalai Lama is addressed, literally meaning "presence". It is written སྐུ་མདུན་ (Wylie: Sku-mdun) in Tibetan and is pronounced kũtỹ in the Lhasa dialect.
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Plot
Except for brief sequences in China proper and India, the film is set in Tibet. It begins with the search for the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Following a vision by Reting Rinpoche (the regent of Tibet) several lamas disguised as servants discover the location of a promising candidate: a child born to a poor herding family near the Chinese border.
These and other lamas administer a test to the child in which he must select from various objects the ones that belonged to the previous Dalai Lama. The child passes the test; he and his family are brought to Lhasa, where he will be installed as Dalai Lama when he comes of age.
During the journey, the child becomes homesick and frightened, but he is comforted by Reting, who tells him the story of the first Dalai Lama—whom the lamas referred to as "Kundun". The story is touching, but it is also intended to show the interconnectedness of all incarnations of the Dalai Lama up to and including the child himself.
As the film progresses, the boy matures both in age and learning. Following a brief power struggle in which Reting is imprisoned and dies, the Dalai Lama begins taking a more active role in governance and religious leadership.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Communists, recently victorious in their revolution, are proclaiming Tibet to be a traditional part of China and expressing their desire to re-incorporate it with the motherland. Eventually, despite Tibet's pleas to the United Nations and the United States for intervention, Chinese Communist forces invades Tibet.
The Chinese are initially helpful, but when the Tibetans resist communist reorganization and re-education of their society, the Chinese become oppressive in the eyes of the many.
Following a series of claimed atrocities suffered by his people the Dalai Lama resolves to meet with Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing, forced by circumstances and his beliefs to take this great risk. However, during their face-to-face meeting on the final day of the Dalai Lama's visit, Mao makes clear his view that "religion is poison" and that the Tibetans are "poisoned and inferior."
Upon his return to Tibet, the Dalai Lama learns of even more awful horrors perpetrated against his people, who have by now repudiated their treaty with China and begun guerrilla action against the Chinese. Finally, after the Chinese make clear their intention to kill him, the Dalai Lama is convinced by his family and his Lord Chamberlain to flee to India.
After consulting the oracle about the proper escape route, the Dalai Lama and his staff put on disguises and slip out of Lhasa under cover of darkness. During an arduous journey, throughout which they are pursued by the Chinese, the Dalai Lama becomes very ill and experiences several visions of the past and future. Finally, the party makes it to a small mountain pass on the Indian border. As the Dalai Lama walks to the guard post, an Indian guard approaches him, salutes, and inquires: "May I ask, are you the Lord Buddha?" The Dalai Lama replies with the film's final line: "I think that I am a reflection, like the moon on water. When you see me, and I try to be a good man, you see yourself."
Production
According to the film's ending credits, it was "produced with the cooperation and contribution of His Holiness the Dalai Lama."
The majority of the film was shot at the Atlas Film Studios in Ouarzazate, Morocco. Some of the scenes were also filmed at the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra monastery in Woodstock, New York.[2]
Cast
- Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong ... Dalai Lama (Adult)
- Gyurme Tethong ... Dalai Lama (Age 12)
- Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin ... Dalai Lama (Age five)
- Tenzin Yeshi Paichang ... Dalai Lama (Aged two)
- Tencho Gyalpo ... Mother
- Tenzin Topjar ... Lobsang (five to ten)
- Tsewang Migyur Khangsar ... Father
- Tenzin Lodoe ... Takster
- Geshi Yeshi Gyatso ... Lama of Sera
- Losang Gyatso ... The Messenger (as Lobsang Gyatso)
- Sonam Phuntsok ... Reting Rinpoche
- Gyatso Lukhang ... Lord Chamberlain
- Lobsang Samten ... Master of the Kitchen
- Jigme Tsarong ... Taktra Rinpoche (as Tsewang Jigme Tsarong)
- Tenzin Trinley ... Ling Rinpoche
- Robert Lin... Mao Zedong
- Jurme Wangda... Prime Minister Lukhangwa
Awards
Kundun was nominated for four Academy Awards: for Art Direction, Cinematography (Roger Deakins), Costume Design and Original Score (Philip Glass).
Inaccuracies
The film is based on the childhood and early adulthood of the 14th Dalai Lama. Several events were left out of the film (possibly for time or tone), and others do not match historical record.
- Early in the film, a monk is sent in disguise as part of an entourage to look for the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. The two-year-old Dalai Lama first meets him when the monk enters the house dressed as a servant. There are differing accounts of their first meeting. In the Dalai Lama's memoirs, Freedom in Exile, he says he came outside to greet the disguised lama.[3] In his mother's autobiography, she says two monks came and set canes (one belonging to the 13th Dalai Lama) against the side of the house, and her son picked the correct cane up and asked the monk (not in disguise) why it was taken from him.[4] Either way, the first encounter was not in the house.
- In 1941, the Regent Reting Rinpoche was deposed and second Regent, Taktra Rinpoche, was selected by the Dalai Lama. In his autobiography, the Dalai Lama recalls that he was approached and asked to make a decision about who would replace Reting and chose Taktra, the main candidate. In the movie, the decision is spontaneous and to Taktra's surprise.
- In September 1954, the Dalai Lama goes to Beijing to sign the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet and meet Mao Zedong. In the film they meet alone, but according to the Dalai Lama's memoirs, his mother's memoirs, and photographic evidence, the 10th Panchen Lama was also present. The Panchen Lama does not appear in the film.
See also
References
- ^ Edelstein, David (1997-12-26). "Holding Their Fire". Slate. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ Karma Triyana Dharmachakra - The Monastery
- ^ (1990) Freedom in exile: the autobiography of the Dalai Lama. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-039116-2.
- ^ Tsering, Diki; Thondup, Khedroob (2000). Dalai Lama, my son: a mother's story. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-88905-9.
External links
- Kundun at the Internet Movie Database
- Kundun Buddhist viewpoints at DharmaFlix