Le petit Bouddah

The cinematography is absolutely breathtaking and alone worth the price of admission. On the other hand, trying to integrate the past with the present didn't work too well for me. The story of Siddharta needed to be expanded on and made a film on its own merits. I for one, wanted to learn more about this figure, and yes, I thought Keanu Reeves was just fine. The present day story didn't do anything for me except for the wonderful character Lama Norbu, he was fabulous. I felt this was a person I actually would like to meet.

If you suspend your need for believable characters, this film does have moments that take you to another world where good and evil are at odds and how one man, Prince Siddharta (Keanu Reeves), deals with the inner demons that reside within us all.

The scenes in which you learn about the life of Prince Siddharta are beautifully done. We get a Buddhist primer of sorts, and learn about the trials that Prince Siddharta had to go through on his quest for enlightenment.

As for the rest of the movie, well, it just dragged in a lot of places and the characters just were not all that believable.

If you know little or nothing about Tibetan Buddhism and would like to get a sense of it without getting into heavy dogma and spiritual practice, this movie is a nice intro.

Bertolucci is a director who doesn't keep making the same movie.

Little Buddha has much about it that can be praised. It shows much, tells some, and demands of the viewer some thought. This is not something always appreciated by the viewer. The key to understanding this movie, I believe, is not the search for the reincarnation of an important Buddhist teacher, nor is it the life of the Buddha up to the time he achieves enlightenment, but the way a child, or children, and an old man, come to understand together something of the connections that may exist between themselves. We don't see through a character's eyes, we watch the effects of the characters on each other. In particular, Jesse, the 9 year old American who may or may not be the reincarnation, holds our attention because we watch him absorb the lessons that are being taught, and as he learns them, he grows in ways we can expect a 9 year old to grow. We also watch his father, whose character becomes more sympathetic as the movie progresses, who has even further to grow than his son, because he has already learned too much.

The movie is also beautiful to watch. The cinematography, the editing and the direction combine to provide just the right dramatic tension to a movie whose pacing is deceptive, in that it seems slow, but is not. The ultimate result is that a viewer who allows it, will find him or herself transported for a little while, to unexpected places.

I certainly disagree with the commentary that calls this movie plotless. I agree that it's slow, but what's wrong with slow? Roger Ebert put the movie down by calling it 'Buddhist Sunday School.' True, the Buddha parts are simplistic, but then so is the original Buddha story. Slow, thoughtful, peaceful, subtly stimulating, and with a plot to end all plots-- the one-ness of all individuality. I much prefer this to the more recent Kundun, which tries to tell essentially the same story. In fact, Scorsese rips this movie off dreadfully, even to the same wiping out of the sand pattern at the end.

Outstanding for its cinematography. Bertolucci makes a clear distinction between the coolly modern Seattle (by giving it a blue tint) and the older, earthier India and Nepal (shot with an orange and red theme). Chris Isaak turns in a subtle and tender performance as the conflicted Dean Conrad.

Ruocheng Ying's performance as Lama Norbu is superb. And Keanu Reeves looks beautifully serene as Prince Siddhartha and later the Buddha.