With his obvious deep interest in spiritual themes, Martin Scorsese was probably a standout choice to bring Kundun, the early story of the 14th Dalai Lama, to the big screen. In doing so, he brings his customary visual flair to what proves to be a terrific film to look at, especially considering it was shot in Morocco and not in Tibet.
Not to be handicapped geographically, Scorsese also managed to largely import an Asian cast (albeit English - speaking) actors, who with only a few exceptions, generally give a collectively convincing account of themselves, in a variety of Tibetan and Chinese roles. Unfortunately the storyline, written by Melissa Mathison, dealing with the first 24 years of Tenzin Gyatso's life, is almost too deferential in its workings and observations of the Dalai Lama. It results in Kundun looking and sounding like an extremely expensive and glossy documentary, rather than a dramatic feature.
Kundun is a long film and Scorsese with his impeccable research and attention to detail, is keen to bring a very realistic eye into the many unusual practices involved in both selecting, installing and developing the young Gyatso as he is recognised into his official role and matures into an adult. Along the way, we see him fostered and advised by a coterie of assorted senior monks, with occasional re - visitations to key family members, such as his mother. With an almost Zen - like inevitability, national conflicts with Communist China are hinted at, before being realised more overtly in the final quarter of the movie, which deals with the 1950 invasion of Tibet and its aftermath, especially, that involving the Dalai Lama.
I personally found Kundun, whilst extremely respectful of Tibetan culture and Buddhist religious practices, lacking in suspense and any sort of dramatic energy. The film is just too episodic in nature for its own good. Any real action concerned with the invasion, is virtually kept offscreen, resulting in a movie, that is factually complete, but dramatically antiseptic and nearly inert, despite the late inclusion of audiences with Chairman Mao and arduous, but scenic mountain escapes to India.
A critical success, but commercial failure, it was arguably Kundun's curse to be released the same year as Jean-Jacques Annaud's Seven Year's in Tibet, starring Brad Pitt in the biographical role of Heinrich Harrer, whose character is not referred to in this film, as best as I can remember. Seven Years covered many of the same topics as Kundun, but did so in a manner that carried a lot more dramatic heft. It deserved and succeeded in securing a much larger global audience.
Not to be handicapped geographically, Scorsese also managed to largely import an Asian cast (albeit English - speaking) actors, who with only a few exceptions, generally give a collectively convincing account of themselves, in a variety of Tibetan and Chinese roles. Unfortunately the storyline, written by Melissa Mathison, dealing with the first 24 years of Tenzin Gyatso's life, is almost too deferential in its workings and observations of the Dalai Lama. It results in Kundun looking and sounding like an extremely expensive and glossy documentary, rather than a dramatic feature.
Kundun is a long film and Scorsese with his impeccable research and attention to detail, is keen to bring a very realistic eye into the many unusual practices involved in both selecting, installing and developing the young Gyatso as he is recognised into his official role and matures into an adult. Along the way, we see him fostered and advised by a coterie of assorted senior monks, with occasional re - visitations to key family members, such as his mother. With an almost Zen - like inevitability, national conflicts with Communist China are hinted at, before being realised more overtly in the final quarter of the movie, which deals with the 1950 invasion of Tibet and its aftermath, especially, that involving the Dalai Lama.
I personally found Kundun, whilst extremely respectful of Tibetan culture and Buddhist religious practices, lacking in suspense and any sort of dramatic energy. The film is just too episodic in nature for its own good. Any real action concerned with the invasion, is virtually kept offscreen, resulting in a movie, that is factually complete, but dramatically antiseptic and nearly inert, despite the late inclusion of audiences with Chairman Mao and arduous, but scenic mountain escapes to India.
A critical success, but commercial failure, it was arguably Kundun's curse to be released the same year as Jean-Jacques Annaud's Seven Year's in Tibet, starring Brad Pitt in the biographical role of Heinrich Harrer, whose character is not referred to in this film, as best as I can remember. Seven Years covered many of the same topics as Kundun, but did so in a manner that carried a lot more dramatic heft. It deserved and succeeded in securing a much larger global audience.