''Little Buddha'' is a 1993

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...

, written by

Rudy Wurlitzer Rudolph "Rudy" Wurlitzer (born January 3, 1937) is an American novelist and screenwriter. Wurlitzer's fiction includes '' Nog'', ''Flats'', ''Quake'', ''Slow Fade'', and ''Drop Edge of Yonder''. He is also the author of the travel memoir, ''Hard ...

and

Mark Peploe Mark Peploe (born 3 March 1943) is an English screenwriter and film director. He was the brother of Clare Peploe, and the brother-in-law of director Bernardo Bertolucci. Works As screenwriter *''The Pied Piper'' (1972) *'' The Passenger'' (1975) ...

, and produced by usual Bertolucci collaborator

Jeremy Thomas Jeremy Jack Thomas, CBE (born 26 July 1949) is a British film producer, founder and chairman of Recorded Picture Company. He produced Bernardo Bertolucci's ''The Last Emperor'', which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2006 he rece ...

. An international co-production of Italy, France, and the United Kingdom, the film stars

Chris Isaak Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. He is widely known for his breakthrough hit and signature song "Wicked Game", as well as other songs such as "Blue Hotel", "Baby D ...

Bridget Fonda Bridget Jane Fonda (born January 27, 1964) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in ''The Godfather Part III'' (1990), ''Single White Female'' (1992), ''Singles'' (1992), ''Point of No Return'' (1993), '' It Could Happen to You'' ( ...

and

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...

Prince Siddhartha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

(the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

before his enlightenment).

Plot

Tibetan Buddhist monks from a monastery in

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

, led by

Lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...

Norbu, are searching for a child who is the

rebirth Rebirth may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film * ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film * ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film * ''Rebirth'', a documentary film produced by Project Rebirth * ''The Re ...

of a great Buddhist teacher, Lama

Dorje The Vajra () is a legendary and ritual weapon, symbolising the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force). The vajra is a type of club with a ribbed spherical head. The ribs may meet in a ball-shape ...

. Lama Norbu and his fellow monks believe they have found a candidate for the child in whom Lama Dorje is

reborn Reborn may refer to: Film *''Reborn'', a 2015 video produced by the Augustine Institute * ''Re:Born'' (film), a 2016 Japanese action film * ''Reborn'' (film), a 2018 American horror film Music * Reborn (band), a Moroccan death metal band Albums ...

: an American boy named Jesse Conrad, the young son of an architect and a teacher who live in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. The monks come to Seattle in order to meet the boy. Jesse is fascinated with the monks and their way of life, but his parents, Dean and Lisa, are wary, and that wariness turns into near-hostility when Norbu announces that he wants to take Jesse back with him to Bhutan to be tested. Dean changes his mind, however, when one of his close friends and colleagues commits suicide because he went broke. Dean then decides to travel to Bhutan with Jesse. In

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, two children who are also candidates for the rebirth are encountered, Raju and Gita. Gradually, over the course of the movie, first Jesse's mother and then Lama Norbu tell the life story of Prince Siddhartha, reading from a book that Lama Norbu has given to Jesse. In ancient Nepal (

Lumbini Lumbinī ( ne, लुम्बिनी, IPA=ˈlumbini , "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mahamayadevi gave birth ...

), a prince called Siddhartha turns his back on his comfortable and protected life, and sets out on a journey to solve the problem of universal suffering. As he progresses, he learns profound truths about the nature of life,

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

, and

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

. Ultimately, he battles Mara (a

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...

representing the ego), who repeatedly tries to divert and destroy Siddhartha. Through the final complete realization of the illusory nature of his own ego, Siddhartha attains enlightenment and becomes the Buddha. In the final scenes of the movie, it is found that all three children are rebirths of Lama Dorje, separate manifestations of his body (Raju), speech (Gita), and mind (Jesse). A ceremony is held and Jesse's father also learns some of the essential truths of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. His work finished, Lama Norbu enters a deep state of

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

and dies. As the funeral ceremony begins, Lama Norbu speaks to the children, seemingly from a higher plane, telling them to have compassion; and just before the credits roll the children are seen distributing his ashes. At the very end of the film credits, the

sand mandala Sand mandala (; ) is a Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhist tradition involving the creation and destruction of mandalas made from colored sand. Once complete, the sand mandala's ritualistic Art destruction, dismantling is accompanied by ceremo ...

that was seen being constructed during the movie is destroyed, "with one swift stroke."

Cast

as Lisa Conrad *

as Siddhartha *

as Dean Conrad *

Ying Ruocheng Ying Ruocheng (; June 21, 1929 - December 27, 2003) was a Chinese actor, director, playwright and vice Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China, minister of culture from 1986 to 1990. He first came to the attention of Western audience ...

as Lama Norbu * Alex Wiesendanger as Jesse Conrad * Raju Lal as Raju * Greishma Makar Singh as Gita *

Sogyal Rinpoche Sogyal Rinpoche (; 1947 – 28 August 2019) was a Tibetan Dzogchen lama. He was recognized as the incarnation of a Tibetan master and visionary saint of the 19th century, Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa. Sogyal Rinpoche was the founder and forme ...

as Kenpo Tenzin * Ven. Khyongla Rato Rinpoche as Abbot * Ven.

Geshe Gyeltsen Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen (1923 – February 13, 2009) was a Tibetan lama and human rights activist living in the United States. Gyeltsen had been described as "one of the last living Tibetan Buddhist masters to have been trained in Tibet" before ...

as Lama Dorje *

Jo Champa Jo Champa (born January 23, 1968) is an actress, producer and model. Rosina Jo Champa was born in 1968 in Long Branch, New Jersey, but grew up in Rome, Italy. She became a model there as a teenager. Before the age of 18, she was already one of G ...

as Maria * Jigme Kunsang as Champa * Thubtem Jampa as Punzo *

Surekha Sikri Surekha Sikri (19 April 1945 16 July 2021) was an Indian theatre, film and television actress. Sikri received several awards, including three National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. A veteran of Hindi theatre, she made her debut in the 1977 ...

as Sonali (as Surehka Sikri) * T.K. Lama as Sangay * Doma as Ani la * Santosh Bangera as Channa (charioteer of prince Siddhartha)

Production

Casting

Three Tibetan incarnate high lamas, also known as

tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor. High-profile examples ...

s or

rinpoche Rinpoche, also spelled Rimboche and Rinboku (), is an honorific term used in the Tibetan language. It literally means "precious one", and may refer to a person, place, or thing—like the words "gem" or "jewel" (Sanskrit: ''Ratna''). The word con ...

, have roles in the film. "I wanted the real thing," said Mr. Bertolucci. The Venerable Khyongla Rato Rinpoche plays the part of the

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of the monastery in Bhutan.

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche (, born June 18, 1961),Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

appears near the end of the film, when Lama Norbu is shown meditating overnight, and as a consultant, supervised every gesture and ritual performed by Tibetan monks.

appears in the earlier segments in the role of

Khenpo The term khenpo (Tib. མཁན་པོ། mkhen po), or khenmo (in the feminine) is a degree for higher Buddhist studies given in Tibetan Buddhism. In the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Sakya traditions, the title is awarded usually after a period of 1 ...

Tenzin. In a later documentary about Khyentse Rinpoche entitled ''Words of my Perfect Teacher'', his role in the film is discussed along with a short interview with Bertolucci.

Filming

The Buddha flashback scenes of ''Little Buddha'' were photographed in

65 mm 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge for motion picture photography, with a negative area nearly 3.5 times as large as the standard 35 mm motion picture film format. As used in cameras, the film is wid ...

Todd-AO Todd-AO is an American post-production company founded in 1953 by Mike Todd and Robert Naify, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. For more than five decades, it was the worldwide leader in theater sou ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

Vittorio Storaro Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. (born 24 June 1940) is an Italian cinematographer widely recognized as one of the best and most influential in cinema history, for his work on numerous classic films including ''The Conformist,'' ''Apocalypse Now ...

. The rest of the film was filmed in 35 mm

anamorphic Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorted ...

Technovision. Jeremy Thomas later remembered making the film: Thomas formed a bond with the Bhutanese Tibetan Buddhist Lama

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche (, born June 18, 1961),Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

who was an advisor on the film, and went on to help him make several other films such as '' The Cup'' (1999) and ''

Travelers and Magicians ''Travellers and Magicians''; Wylie: ''chang hub thengs gcig gi 'khrul snang''; literally: "''once upon a time hallucinating on a sip of wine''" is a 2003 Bhutanese Dzongkha-language film written and directed by Khyentse Norbu, writer and directo ...

'' (2003). In addition to Kathmandu, another prominent Nepalese location used in the film was the city of

Bhaktapur , motto = ne, पुर्खले सिर्जेको सम्पत्ती, हाम्रो कला र संस्कृति , lit=Creation of our ancestors, our heritage and culture , image_map ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film was entirely composed by Japanese pianist/composer

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...

. ;Track listing # "Main Theme" 2:50 # "Opening Titles" 1:47 # "The First Meeting" 1:50 # "Raga Kirvani" 1:28 # "Nepalese Caravan" 3:01 # "Victory" 1:45 # "Faraway Song" 3:18 # "Red Dust" 4:38 # "River Ashes" 2:25 # "Exodus" 2:33 # "Evan's Funeral" 4:28 # "The Middle Way" 1:50 # "Raga Naiki Kanhra / The Trial" 5:25 # "Enlightenment" 4:28 # "The Reincarnation" 1:52 # "Gompa - Heart Sutra" 2:38 # "Acceptance - End Credits" 8:57

Release

The film had its world premiere in France on 1 December 1993, opening on 187 screens.

Reception

Critical reception

The film received mixed to positive reviews, as it currently holds a 65% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 26 reviews. The consensus summarizes: "''Little Buddha''s storytelling may be too childlike to best service its audacious plot, but Bernardo Bertolucci's direction and Vittorio Storaro's cinematography conspire to deliver a visually strong epic."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film only two stars, and called it "a slow-moving and pointless exercise by Bertolucci, whose '

The Last Emperor ''The Last Emperor'' ( it, L'ultimo imperatore) is a 1987 epic biographical drama film about the life of Puyi, the final Emperor of China. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Peploe, which was adapted ...

' was a much superior telling of a similar story about a child who is chosen for great things."

Desson Howe Desson Patrick Thomson is a former speechwriter for the Obama administration and former Film criticism, film critic for ''The Washington Post''. He was known as Desson Howe until 2003 when he changed his name after reuniting with his birth fath ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' called the film "beguiling ndunpretentious", adding that "Bertolucci intermixes high art with childlike wonder, blatant special effects with tacit spirituality." Wrote

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'':

Box office

The film was very successful in France, where it was the 19th highest-grossing film of the year, with 1,359,483 admissions. In its opening week in France, it sold 308,660 tickets for a gross of $1.52 million. The film, against competition from such films as ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...

'' and ''

Maverick Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Bureau ...

'', opened at number 9 at the US box office. It dropped out of the top ten the next week, closing on June 16, 1994 at number 13, with a total of $4.8 million. It grossed $48 million worldwide against its $30 million budget.

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for one

Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

, Worst New Star for

Year-end lists

* 10th –

, ''

'' * Top 10 runner-ups (not ranked) –

, ''

'' * Honorable mention – Betsy Pickle, ''

Knoxville News-Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel, also known as Knox News,'' is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: ''The ...

'' * Honorable mention – Dan Craft, ''

The Pantagraph ''The Pantagraph'' is a daily newspaper that serves Bloomington–Normal, Illinois, along with 60 communities and eight counties in the Central Illinois area. Its headquarters are in Bloomington and it is owned by Lee Enterprises. The name is d ...

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1994 films Films directed by Bernardo Bertolucci Films about Buddhism Films about Gautama Buddha Metaphysical fiction films English-language Italian films English-language French films Tibetan Buddhist art and culture Films set in Seattle Films set in Bhutan Films set in India Films set in Nepal Films shot in Nepal 1994 drama films Ryuichi Sakamoto albums American drama films Fictional Buddhist monks Films shot in Washington (state) Films produced by Jeremy Thomas Films scored by Ryuichi Sakamoto Albums produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto 1990s English-language films 1990s American films