Little Buddha (1993)

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers (WGA):

Bernardo Bertolucci (story)
Rudy Wurlitzer (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 May 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Lama Norbu comes to Seattle in search of the reincarnation of his dead teacher, Lama Dorje. His search leads him to young Jesse Conrad...

Plot Keywords:

Reincarnation | Enlightenment | Buddhist | Nonlinear Timeline | Kicked In Butt

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Keanu Reeves	...	Siddhartha
Ruocheng Ying	...	Lama Norbu (as Ying Ruocheng)
Chris Isaak	...	Dean Conrad
Bridget Fonda	...	Lisa Conrad
Alex Wiesendanger	...	Jesse Conrad
Raju Lal	...	Raju
Greishma Makar Singh	...	Gita
Sogyal Rinpoche	...	Kenpo Tenzin
Ven. Khyongla Rato Rinpoche	...	Abbot
Ven. Geshe Tsultim Gyelsen	...	Lama Dorje
Jo Champa	...	Maria
Jigme Kunsang	...	Champa
Thubtem Jampa	...	Punzo
Surekha Sikri	...	Sonali
T.K. Lama	...	Sanjay

Also Known As:

Little Buddha (France)
Piccolo Buddha (Italy)

Runtime:

123 min | Australia:141 min

Country:

Italy | France | Liechtenstein | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby Digital (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Bhutan

Company:

CiBy 2000

Trivia:

For the scene in the forest with the ascetics where Siddartha becomes emaciated from lack of food, Keanu Reeves went on a crash diet of oranges and water.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Raju play with the GameBoy you can hear that he is playing Tetris. But if you watch closely you can see that it is not turned on at all.

Quotes:

Jesse Conrad: Were you sleeping lama?
Lama Norbu: No, I was meditating.
Jesse Conrad: What's meditating?
Lama Norbu: It is being totally quiet and relaxed, separating yourself from everything around you, setting your mind free like a bird, and you can then see your thoughts as if they were passing clouds
[looks out the window of a flying plane]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hollywood vs. Religion (1994) (V)

Simplistic, but not bad and educationally useful.

Simplistic, and of more value to young people than serious adults, but a more "realistic" 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 "Seven Years in Tibet" 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 "Kundun" and "Seven Years in Tibet" which are excellent, sympathetic films about this Asian country that has received so much undeserved harassment.