Influencing Buddhist Movies
"A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, so he escapes suffering. " - Buddha
"The highest problem of any art is to cause by appearance the illusion of a higher reality." - Goethe
"The secret to film is that it's an illusion. " - George Lucas
"The highest problem of any art is to cause by appearance the illusion of a higher reality." - Goethe
"The secret to film is that it's an illusion. " - George Lucas
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- DirectorConrad RooksStarsShashi KapoorSimi GarewalRomesh SharmaThe story of a young Indian who embarks upon a journey to find the meaning of existence. Based on the novel by Hermann Hesse.A 1970s movie based on the popular Hermann Hess book.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsTenzin Thuthob TsarongGyurme TethongTulku Jamyang Kunga TenzinFrom childhood to adulthood, Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.Very interesting biography of the Dalai Lama made by Martin Scorsese. Almost like a thriller towards the end, it doesn't go too deeply into Buddhist principles. But non-violence is a prominent theme and it does show the "exotic" side of Tibetan Buddhism, such as the Oracle and the making of sand mandalas.
- DirectorBernardo BertolucciStarsKeanu ReevesBridget FondaRuocheng YingAfter 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.A Bernardo Bertolucci movie tells the story of the Buddha and makes it accessible to modern audiences using the story of a search for a reincarnated lama in Seattle and Katmandu. It's a bit hard to take Keanu Reeves as the Buddha. Strangely this movie comes from Bertolucci made famous movies about fascism and communism back in the 70s and 80s.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsBrad PittDavid ThewlisBD WongHeinrich Harrer, an Austrian climber, breaks out of prison and travels to the holy city of Lhasa. He is employed as an instructor to the 14th Dalai Lama and soon becomes his close confidante.Story of an Austrian Nazi whose life was changed by Tibet and the Dalai Lama. Filmed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsAhn Sung-kiJeon Moo-songMichelle Okkyung LeeA story that follows the lives and interactions of two Buddhist monks living in South Korea.It's about a student radical, from Korea who becomes disenchanted with politics and decides to become a Son (Korean Zen) monk. He ends up following an older monk on his wanderings around the countryside, on foot. It's done in the style of the golden age of Japanese cinema and beautiful cinematography
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsRonald ColmanJane WyattEdward Everett HortonWhen a revered diplomat's plane is diverted and crashes in the peaks of Tibet, he and the other survivors are guided to an isolated monastery at Shangri-La, where they wrestle with the invitation to stay.A diplomat's plane crashes in the mountains of Tibet and he finds Shangri-la (i.e. Shambala), where everyone lives happily by being kind to one another. Some true depictions of Buddhist canons are cut to see.
- DirectorEric ValliMichel DebatsStarsThilen LhondupGurgon KyapLhakpa TsamchoeAn aging chief's last stand, lessons for the new, and the education of a young chief-to-be played against harsh Nature in Nepal's Dolpo. When his son dies returning from Tibet's salt lakes, Tinle blames Karma, his son's friend, refuses to give Karma his blessing as the new chief, and organizes a rival caravan to take the salt to lower Nepal to trade for grain. He, a few old men, his son's widow, his grandson, and his second son, a monk, set out on the arduous journey. Fearing storms, Karma has led his caravan out of the village before the auspicious day ordained by the lamas. Tinle's group catches Karma's before the final pass; the two stubborn men lock wills with Tinle's grandson watching.Good adaptation of Buddhist principles and how they were established among the white mountains...
- DirectorYong-Kyun BaeStarsYi Pan-YongSin Won-SopHae-Jin HuangAbout three monks in a remote monastery; an aging master, a small orphan and a young man who left his city life to seek Enlightenment.In a remote monastery high up in the mountains, an old master, a young monk and an orphaned boy devote themselves to their Buddhist teachings. As the master faces death, he becomes more desperate to lead his disciples away from the outside world and point them toward their quest for enlightenment. This magnificent film, astonishingly rich in its formal beauty and affirmation of life, is not only a cinematic gem but a transcendent evocation of the mystery and humanity of Zen Buddhism. Selected as "One of the Ten Best Films of All Time" in the 1993 Sight & Sound Critics Poll.
- DirectorJianxin HuangStarsHongsheng JiaFuli JinHan LeiShi Ba is a self-employed profiteer, skilled in deceiving, bragging, speculating and playing. He deceives others, who fool him tooTibetan Movie with English subtitles
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsKim Ki-dukOh Yeong-suJong-ho KimA boy is raised by a Buddhist monk in an isolated floating temple where the years pass like the seasons.The exquisitely beautiful and very human drama SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER… AND SPRING, starring director KIM Ki-duk, is entirely set on and around a tree-lined lake where a tiny Buddhist monastery floats on a raft amidst a breath-taking landscape. The film is divided into five segments with each season representing a stage in a man's life. Under the vigilant eyes of Old Monk (wonderful veteran theatre actor OH Young-soo), Child Monk learns a hard lesson about the nature of sorrow when some of his childish games turn cruel. In the intensity and lushness of summer, the monk, now a young man, experiences the power of lust, a desire that will ultimately lead him, as an adult, to dark deeds. With winter, strikingly set on the ice and snow-covered lake, the man atones for his past actions, and spring starts the cycle anew… With an extraordinary attention to visual details, such as using a different animal (dog, rooster, cat, snake) as a motif for each section, writer/director/editor KIM Ki-duk has crafted a totally original yet universal story about the human spirit, moving from Innocence, through Love and Evil, to Enlightenment and finally Rebirth.
- DirectorKhyentse NorbuStarsOrgyen TobgyalNeten ChoklingJamyang LodroWhile the soccer World Cup is being played in France, two young Tibetan refugees arrive at a monastery/boarding school in exile in India. Its atmosphere of serene contemplation is somewhat disrupted by soccer fever, the chief instigator being a young student, the soccer enthusiast Orgyen. Prevented by various circumstances from seeing the Cup finals on television in a nearby village, Orgyen sets out to organize the rental of a TV set for the monastery. The enterprise becomes a test of solidarity, resourcefulness and friendship for the students, while the Lama, head of the monastery, contemplates the challenges of teaching the word of Buddha in a rapidly changing world.Written by Buddhist monk Khyentse Norbu, who is the director of several spiritual centers in India and elsewhere, it features a group of young Tibetan monks playing a young group of Tibetan monks in Dharamsala, India, the exiled community of the Dalai Lama. The Cup is a refreshing and delightful antidote to more reverent and cautious films about Buddhist monastic life. In their daily life at the monastery, despite their relatively austere setting, and the gravity of their religious responsibility, we see that the monks are also regular boys - squirming with impatience during meditation, being playful, and acting rebellious. They are also obsessed with soccer.
- DirectorVictor SalvaStarsScott MechlowiczNick NolteAmy SmartDan, a college student and a world-champion gymnast, is disturbed and wants to add some meaning to his life. A chance encounter leads him to discover an enlightened way ahead.The film tells the semi-autobiographical story of a talented and driven college gymnast (Scott Mechlowicz) who is in a horrific car accident and realizes he may never compete again. Forced to re-evaluate the way he lives, he turns for help to an unusual and mysterious spiritual mentor he calls Socrates (Nick Nolte), whom he met in a gas station. This kind of crisis, in which one must re-examine one's purpose, is familiar to most; however, the kind of advice and wisdom dolled out by Socrates is less conventional and actually quite worthwhile.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsThe Dalai LamaLama Lhundup WoeserTakna Jigme SangpoWheel of Time is Werner Herzog's photographed look at the largest Buddhist ritual in Bodh Gaya, India.Film portrays a man who has traveled three years, ritually prostrating himself across thousands of miles, to be at Bodh Gaya. When the Dalai Lama ultimately cannot appear because of illness, the moment is heartbreaking, but the crowd's patient reaction makes them all the more impressive.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBrad PittEdward NortonMeat LoafAn insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.A movie illuminating the strange and complicated parallels between Buddhism, Nihilism, and Fascism that arise in the project of deconstructing the Self.