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Kundun
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Produced by	Barbara De Fina
Written by	Melissa Mathison
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures (USA)
Release date(s)	1997
Running time	134 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

Kundun is a 1997 film written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the life and writings of the Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet. Both Scorsese and Mathison (along with several other members of the production) were banned by the Chinese Government from ever entering Tibet as a result of making the film.

The film did poorly at the box office, but was generally praised by critics. Some criticized the movie as hagiographic, but many found it exceptionally moving and stunning, even within Scorcese's impressive oeuvre. Some — notably Jonathan Rosenbaum and Charles Taylor — consider it to be among Scorsese's finest films.

The majority of the film was shot at the Atlas Film Studios in Ouarzazate, Morocco.

The name "Kundun" is a title by which the Dalai Lama is addressed, literally meaning "presence". It is written སྐུ་མདུན་ (Wylie: Sku-mdun) in Tibetan and is pronounced [kũtỹ] in the Lhasa dialect.

The young Dalai Lama portrayed in the film

Except for brief sequences in China and India, the film is set entirely in Tibet. It begins with the search for the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Following a vision by Reting Rinpoche (the regent of Tibet) several lamas disguised as servants discover the location of a promising candidate: a child born to a poor herding family near the Chinese border.

These and other lamas administer a test to the child in which he must select from various objects the ones that belonged to the previous Dalai Lama. The child passes the test; he and his family are brought to Lhasa, where he will be installed as Dalai Lama when he comes of age.

During the journey, the child becomes homesick and frightened, but he is comforted by Reting, who tells him the story of the first Dalai Lama -- whom the lamas referred to as "Kundun". The story is touching, but it is also intended to show the interconnectedness of all incarnations of the Dalai Lama up to and including the child himself.

As the film progresses, the boy matures both in age and learning. Following a brief power struggle in which Reting is imprisoned and dies, the Dalai Lama begins taking a more active role in governance and religious leadership.

The Dalai Lama's quarters in the Potala featured prominently in the film

Meanwhile, the Chinese Communists, recently victorious in their revolution, are proclaiming Tibet to be a "traditional" part of China and expressing their desire to "unify" it with the motherland. Eventually, despite Tibet's pleas to the United Nations and the United States for intervention, China invades Tibet.

The Chinese are initially helpful, but when the Tibetans resist communist reorganization and re-education of their society (the Tibetans are particularly repulsed by the Communists' ban on religion), the Chinese become oppressive.

Following a series of increasingly horrific atrocities suffered by his people (and several attempts on his life) the Dalai Lama resolves to meet with Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing, forced by circumstances and his beliefs to take this great risk. However, during their face-to-face meeting on the final day of the Dalai Lama's visit, Mao makes clear his view that "religion is poison" and that the Tibetans are "poisoned."

The Dalai Lama as a young man

Mao was visited by the Dalai Lama at Tiananmen Gate in Beijing

Upon his return to Tibet, the Dalai Lama learns of even more awful horrors perpetrated against his people, who have by now repudiated their treaty with China and begun guerrilla action against the Chinese. Finally, after the Chinese make clear their intention to kill him, the Dalai Lama is convinced by his family and his Lord Chamberlain to flee to India.

The Dalai Lama eventually flees across the Tibetan plateau into India

After consulting the oracle about the proper escape route, the Dalai Lama and his staff put on disguises and slip out of Lhasa under cover of darkness. During an arduous journey, throughout which they are pursued by the Chinese, the Dalai Lama becomes very ill and experiences several visions of the past and future. Finally, the party makes it to a small mountain pass on the Indian border. As the Dalai Lama walks to the guard post, an Indian guard approaches him, salutes, and inquires: "May I ask, are you the Lord Buddha?" The Dalai Lama replies with the film's final line: "I think that I am a reflection, like the moon on water. When you see me, and I try to be a good man, see yourself."

At the beginning of the film the two-year old boy (Tenzin Yeshi Paichang) at his rural birth place in Amdo is visted by the searching lamas and undertakes a test by the Lama of Sera (Geshi Yeshi Gyatso) to confirm his identity as the reborn Buddha of Compassion

• Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong ... Dalai Lama (Adult)
• Gyurme Tethong ... Dalai Lama (Age 12)
• Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin ... Dalai Lama (Age 5)
• Tenzin Yeshi Paichang ... Dalai Lama (Aged 2)
• Tencho Gyalpo ... Mother
• Tenzin Topjar ... Lobsang (5-10)
• Tsewang Migyur Khangsar ... Father
• Tenzin Lodoe ... Takster
• Geshi Yeshi Gyatso ... Lama of Sera
• Losang Gyatso ... The Messenger (as Lobsang Gyatso)
• Sonam Phuntsok ... Reting Rimpoche
• Gyatso Lukhang ... Lord Chamberlain
• Lobsang Samten ... Master of the Kitchen
• Jigme Tsarong ... Taktra Rimpoche (as Tsewang Jigme Tsarong)
• Tenzin Trinley ... Ling Rimpoche

Kundun was nominated for four Academy Awards: for Art Direction, Cinematography (Roger Deakins), Costume Design and Original Score (Philip Glass)

The quiet and peaceful park, pond, and chapel behind the Potala

• Seven Years in Tibet (1997 film)
• Samsara (2001 film)
• The Cup
• Potala

• Kundun at the Internet Movie Database