Kundun . Newcity Chicago . 01-20-98

Kundun

DIRECTED BY: Martin Scorsese

REVIEWED: 01-20-98

A biopic of the early life of the Dalai Lama, Martin Scorsese's reverential-yet-inert "Kundun" (written by Melissa Mathison) is one of the handsomest movies in ages, with each shot suffused with color and compositional care. ("Lama of Arabia"?) The first few shots are riveting -- a Werner Herzog mountain swathed in snow, a village of Taviani tumult. At first there's a sense that Scorsese's placid attempt to imagine the childhood of the Tibetan leader is of a piece with his "Last Temptation of Christ," here imagining the missing child-years of Jesus. There's little drama, however, and while watching the exquisitely mounted, daringly banal drama, eventually one gives oneself over to cinematographer Roger Deakin's rich color schemes and waits for the movie to end. ("Seven More Years in Tibet"? "The Longest Story Ever Told"?) There are two moments of blistering concentration breaking the lush, hypnotic torpor -- one, where the Dalai Lama dreams himself at the center of a world carpeted with murdered, red-robed monks, another, where a flash of intense empathetic imagination allows him to imagine Tibetan children being forced by Chinese troops to shoot their parents. In virtually every other scene, there is only the basso tootling of Philip Glass' score to nudge one awake and hope for story's end. The eye is filled; the heart wanders. A daring departure for all concerned, even Disney, which has had second or third thoughts and dispatched noted spiritual leader Henry Kissinger to apologize to the current regime in China. Now Scorsese moves on to his next biography -- Dean Martin.

--Ray Pride

Full Length Reviews
Kundun
Kundun
Kundun
Kundun
Kundun
Kundun

Capsule Reviews
Kundun

Other Films by Martin Scorsese
A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies
Bringing Out the Dead
Casino
Mean Streets
Raging Bull
Taxi Driver
The Last Temptation of Christ

Film Vault Suggested Links
Wilde
The Truce
My Family

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