Kundun
United States
1997
134 Min
Color
2.35:1
Mandarin, Tibetan, English
Synopsis
In 1937, in a remote area of Tibet close to the Chinese border, a two year old child is identified as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the compassionate Buddha. Two years later, the child is brought to Lhasa where he is schooled as a monk and as head of state amidst the color and pageantry of Tibetan culture. The film follows him into adulthood: when he is 14, the Chinese invade Tibet and he is forced into a shaky coalition government; he travels to China to meet with a cynical Mao; and, finally, in 1959, ill and under siege, he flees to India. Throughout, he has visions of his people’s slaughter under Chinese rule. —IMDb
Director
Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese was born in New York City and soon developed a passion for cinema and a particular admiration for neo-realist cinema which inspired him and influenced his view or portrayal of his Sicilian heritage. After graduating from NYU Film School in 1966 and making a number of shorts, he shot his first feature-length film Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1968) with fellow student, actor Harvey Keitel, and editor Thelma Schoonmaker both of whom were to become long-term collaborators. Mean Streets followed in 1973 and provided the benchmarks for the ‘Scorsese style’. After Scorsese directed Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, the trio was reunited for the dark journey of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. After New York, New York Scorsese released Raging Bull. The acclaimed biography of middleweight fighter Jake LaMotta was followed by exploration of fans as pariah in The King of Comedy, dark-comic dreams in After Hours and pool sharks in The Color of Money. Scorsese outraged some religious… read more
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Federico Di Folco
5Apr13
Scorsese conferma la sua straordinaria capacità nel trasmettere pathos per immagini.Un grande lavoro che, grazie al montaggio e alle inquadrature,riesce a compensare delle evidenti lacune nella sceneggiatura,soprattutto per quanto riguarda l'unità d'argomento.La parte più riuscita rimane quella ritualista, grazie anche alla scelta cromatica e alla durata dei piani-sequenza.Prima parte migliore della seconda.Godibile.
nosuri
21Dec12
beautiful film, the images we're confronted with are sometimes powerful and tragically beautiful. The worst part for me was the acting of the oldest kundun, but apart from that, I think they managed to make a good film about someone who does in fact exist - the fourteenth Dalai Lama, allowing us to have a little peek into his existence as a human of flesh
David Grillo
11Jan12
Yes my Favirote Scorsese the filmmaking if flawless and at the same time provides such emotional impact that it always has me in tears. What beauty in this film.
Øyvind Rype
5Jan12
I think I'm not alone when I say that the soundtrack completely overshadows the film. 'Escape to India' is a good example of what I mean.
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Philip Glass @ 75
By David Hudson on January 31, 2012
Glass’s Ninth Symphony is performed tonight and the revived opera Einstein on the Beach tours the world this year.
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Froide hagiographie
By hubertguillaud on April 21, 2010
Froide hagiographie – 16/09/2009
Oui, Kundun est un film très froid malgré sa grande beauté formelle (couleurs, costume, reconstitution, réalisation…), mais en livrant une hagiographie du Dalaï… read review
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