Review of Kundun (1997) by Dom W — 13 Apr 2013

This was difficult for me to get into but the theartical standpoint was pretty decen, being that I am somewhat familiar with what was going on. The Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama as 'Kundun', which means the "presence".

I learned that from my sister who has actually watched this a dozen times. He was forced to escape from his native home, Tibet, when China which was influenced under communism invaded and enforced their own ways against the peaceful nation of Tibet.

The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 and has been living in exile in Dharamsala ever since. In 1937, in a remote area of Tibet close to the Chinese border, a two year old child is identified as the reincarnation or the second coming of the Dalai Lama, which is the Buddha if I am not mistaken.

Two years later, the child is brought to Lhasa where he is schooled as a monk/student basically and as head of the culture.Throughout this time, he experiences some visions of his people's slaughter under the Chinese dominance and rulings which is wild.

While the movie tells the story of a couple of adventurers who wade into the Tibet and become very much acquainted with the young Dalai Lama, I am not sure exactly how accurate the film is to the real life version.

I know that films tend to add a spin upon things but I am not sure. I actually had to watch the film twice just to get a good grasp on what was actually going on. One of the adventerers, mainly becomes the Dalai's closest friend and shares some thoughts on many areas of life itself.

The most important factor that shapes the Dalai Lama into realizing the reality of the cruel world that he is engulfed in is when the Chinese invade their country with modern weaponry, while Tibet didn't even have a sole army, let alone any advances in weaponry which was a major disadvantage to them.

The way the film was shot was pretty good in my opinion though.