Little Buddha is a
19941994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...
feature filmIn the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
by Italian director
Bernardo BertolucciBernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
, starring
Bridget FondaBridget Jane Fonda is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in films such as The Godfather Part III, Single White Female, Point of No Return, It Could Happen to You, and Jackie Brown...
and
Keanu ReevesKeanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...
. Made by Bertolucci's regular partner, British producer
Jeremy ThomasJeremy Jack Thomas, CBE is a British film producer, founder of the Recorded Picture Company. He was the producer of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2006 he received a European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World...
, it marked the team's return to the East after
The Last EmperorThe Last Emperor is a 1987 biopic about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, whose autobiography was the basis for the screenplay written by Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci. Independently produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was directed by Bertolucci and released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures...
.
Plot
Little Buddha is a story about the quest of a group of several monks, led by Lama Norbu (Ruocheng Ying), to seek out the rebirth of his great Buddhist teacher, Lama Dorje (Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen). Lama Norbu and his fellow monks believe they have found a candidate of Dorje's
rebirthRebirth in Buddhism is the doctrine that the evolving consciousness or stream of consciousness upon death , becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new aggregation...
within a boy named Jesse Conrad (Alex Wiesendanger) in Seattle. While Jesse is fascinated with the monks and their way of life, his parents, Dean (
Chris IsaakChristopher Joseph "Chris" Isaak is an American rock musician and occasional actor.-Early life:Isaak was born in Stockton, California, the son of Dorothy , a potato chip factory worker, and Joe Isaak, a forklift driver. Isaak's mother is Italian American, originating from Genoa...
) and Lisa (
Bridget FondaBridget Jane Fonda is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in films such as The Godfather Part III, Single White Female, Point of No Return, It Could Happen to You, and Jackie Brown...
), are wary, and that wariness turns into near-hostility when Norbu announces that he would like to take Jesse back with him to
BhutanBhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
to be tested. Jesse's father changes his mind however, after one of his close friends and colleagues commits suicide becouse he got broke, seeming to realize that there could be more to life than work and money. He then decides to go to Bhutan with his son. In Nepal, two children who are also candidates are encountered, Raju (Rajuh Lal) and Gita (Greishma Makar Singh).
In the story, the
LamaLama is a title for a Tibetan teacher of the Dharma. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru .Historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries...
Norbu relates Buddha's life story, which is also enacted as a story line within the movie. In this depiction, a
HinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
prince called
SiddharthaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
(
Keanu ReevesKeanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...
) sets on a journey to achieve greater awareness. As he progresses, he learns profound truths about the nature of life,
consciousnessConsciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
, and reality. Ultimately, he battles
MaraIn Buddhism, Māra is the demon that tempted Gautama Buddha by trying to seduce him with the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara's daughters. In Buddhist cosmology, Mara personifies unwholesome impulses, unskillfulness, the "death" of the spiritual life...
(a
demoncall - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
representing the
egoIn spirituality, and especially nondual, mystical and eastern meditative traditions, individual existence is often described as a kind of illusion. This "sense of doership" or sense of individual existence is that part which believes it is the human being, and believes it must fight for itself in...
), who repeatedly tries to divert and destroy Siddhartha. Through concentrated non-attachment and final realization of the illusory nature of his own ego, Siddhartha attains
enlightenmentEnlightenment in a secular context often means the "full comprehension of a situation", but in spiritual terms the word alludes to a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things, communication with or understanding of the mind of God, profound spiritual...
.
In the end, it is found that all three children are rebirths of the Lama Dorje, separate manifestations of his body (Raju), speech (Gita), and mind (Jesse). A ceremony is held and Jesse's father also learns the facts about
BuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. Lama Dorje's rebirth represents the three most important aspects of life. His work finished, Lama Norbu enters a deep state of meditation and dies of his own will. As the funeral ceremony begins Lama Norbu speaks to the children, seemingly from a higher plane, telling them to have compassion. Just before the credits roll the children are seen distributing his ashes in various places.
At the very end of the film credits, the
sand mandalaThe Sand Mandala is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition involving the creation and destruction of mandalas made from colored sand...
that was seen being constructed during the movie is destroyed, "with one swift stroke."
Production
The Buddha flashback scenes of
Little Buddha were photographed in 65 mm
Todd-AOTodd-AO is a post-production company founded in 1953, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. The company operates three facilities in the Los Angeles area.-History:...
by
cinematographerA cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Vittorio StoraroVittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. is an Italian cinematographer.In 2003, a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild judged Storaro one of history's ten most influential cinematographers.-Biography:...
. The rest of the film was filmed in 35 mm
anamorphicAnamorphic format is a term that can be used either for: the cinematography technique of capturing a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film, or other visual recording media, with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio; or a photographic projection format in which the original image requires an...
Technovision.
Jeremy Thomas later remembered making the film:
Thomas formed a bond with the Buthanese Tibetan Buddhist Lama
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse RinpocheDzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche , also known as Khyentse Norbu, is a Bhutanese lama, filmmaker, and writer. His two major films are The Cup and Travellers and Magicians . He is the author of the book What Makes You Not a Buddhist...
who was an advisor on the film, and went on to help him make several other films such as
The Cup (1999) and
Travelers and Magicians (2003).
In addition to Kathmandu, another prominent Nepalese location used in the film was the city of Bhaktapur.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack for the film was entirely composed by Japanese pianist
Ryuichi SakamotoAfter working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...
.
Track listing
All compositions are conducted by Sakamoto.
- "Main Theme" 2:50
- "Opening Titles" 1:47
- "The First Meeting" 1:50
- "Raga Kirvani" 1:28
- "Nepalese Caravan" 3:01
- "Victory" 1:45
- "Faraway Song" 3:18
- "Red Dust" 4:38
- "River Ashes" 2:25
- "Exodus" 2:33
- "Evan's Funeral" 4:28
- "The Middle Way" 1:50
- "Shruti Sadolikar - Raga Naiki Kanhra - The Trial" 5:25
- "Enlightenment" 4:28
- "The Reincarnation" 1:52
- "Gompa - Heart Sutra" 2:38
- "Acceptance - End Credits" 8:57
Casting of Tibetan lamas
Sogyal RinpocheSogyal Rinpoche is a Tibetan Dzogchen Lama of the Nyingma tradition. He has been teaching for over 30 years and continues to travel widely in Europe, America, Australia and Asia...
and
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse RinpocheDzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche , also known as Khyentse Norbu, is a Bhutanese lama, filmmaker, and writer. His two major films are The Cup and Travellers and Magicians . He is the author of the book What Makes You Not a Buddhist...
— both Tibetan teachers identified as reborn lamas or
tulkuIn Tibetan Buddhism, a tulku is a particular high-ranking lama, of whom the Dalai Lama is one, who can choose the manner of his rebirth. Normally the lama would be reincarnated as a human, and of the same sex as his predecessor. In contrast to a tulku, all other sentient beings including other...
s — appeared in the film. Sogyal Rinpoche plays in the earlier segments the role of
KhenpoThe term khenpo is a spiritual degree given in Tibetan Buddhism. In the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Sakya traditions, the title is awarded usually after a period of 3 years of intensive study after secondary school level studies, and is considered much like a spiritual Bachelor's. Similar titles of lower...
Tenzin, and Khyentse Rinpoche appears near the end when Lama Norbu is shown meditating overnight. Khyentse Rinpoche served as a consultant to Bertolucci for the film. In a later documentary about Khyentse Rinpoche entitled
Words of my Perfect Teacher, his role in the film is discussed along with a short interview with Bertolucci.
The Venerable Khyongla Rato Rinpoche plays the part of the
AbbotThe word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
of the monastery.
Reception
The film received mixed reviews and was only a moderate box office success. It was nominated for one Razzie Award, Worst New Star for
Chris IsaakChristopher Joseph "Chris" Isaak is an American rock musician and occasional actor.-Early life:Isaak was born in Stockton, California, the son of Dorothy , a potato chip factory worker, and Joe Isaak, a forklift driver. Isaak's mother is Italian American, originating from Genoa...
.
External links