Little Buddha (1993)

Little Buddha: Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. With Keanu Reeves, Ruocheng Ying, Chris Isaak, Alex Wiesendanger. After the death of Lama Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist monks find three children – one American and two Nepalese – who may be the rebirth of their great teacher.

“Simplistic, and of more value to young people than serious adults, but a more u0026quot;realisticu0026quot; dramatization of the subject might be too subtle for many viewers. This is perhaps the only movie I know of that deals directly with Buddhism from a western point of view, as opposed to Asian movies like those of Kurosawa, or such recent films as u0026quot;Seven Years in Tibetu0026quot; which deal more with the political and social aspects of Tibetan culture rather than Buddhism itself. Because Buddhism is drawing increasing interest in the West, a dramatization of the classic story of the Buddha is useful and entertaining. As a high school teacher, I have seriously recommended this film to students a number of times. The movie is well filmed, and, besides the traditional story of the Buddha,in its ancient Indian setting and with all of the mythical elements, it does gives insight into Tibetan culture, and can be linked to u0026quot;Kundunu0026quot; and u0026quot;Seven Years in Tibetu0026quot; which are excellent, sympathetic films about this Asian country that has received so much undeserved harassment.”