Kundun

1997
PG-13
2h 14m

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

31K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer1:16

1 Video

51 Photos

Biography Drama History War

From childhood to adulthood, Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.From childhood to adulthood, Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.From childhood to adulthood, Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

31K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 4 Oscars
- 7 wins & 13 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 1:16

Watch Trailer [OV]

Photos51

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Storyline

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Trivia
The Dalai Lama and his family were portrayed by his real-life relatives, now living in exile. Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, who played the adult Dalai Lama, is his grand nephew.

Goofs
For narrative purposes, the timeline is compressed; the Chinese invaded in 1950, the Dalai Lama visited Chairman Mao in Beijing in 1954, and he fled Tibet in 1959.

Quotes
Indian: Are you the Lord Buddha?
Dalai Lama: I believe I am a reflection, like the moon on water. When you see me, and I try to be a good man, you see yourself.

Crazy credits
The Touchstone Pictures logo shown after the end credits is red.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Tomorrow Never Dies/Mousehunt/As Good as it Gets/Kundun/Oscar and Lucinda (1997)

User reviews143

Review

Featured review

10/10

incredibly beautiful movie

I rented Kundun to further my quest to see all the Scorsese movies I can. I never expected such an incredible movie. I didn't want this movie to end. It's really difficult to describe how I feel about this movie since I have only viewed it once and was completely blown away, it left me in complete awe.

Like most when I first started watching Scorsese I thought that he did brilliant gangster films and that was his thing, but I have recently discovered that this couldn't be further from the truth. Fist seeing The Last Temptation of Christ and now Kundun I wouldn't care if Scorsese ever made another gangster film. It is easy to see that he is an artistic genius, the acting in the film was great, but I could have watched it on mute and still have been amazed.

If, like I was, you are unfamiliar with the Buddhist religion and the Chinese takeover of Tibet this film has even more to offer. Scorsese's risk of using real Buddhists to do all of the acting payed off better than I ever expected it would, the fact that we are hearing the story through the people it affected adds another level to this movie.

I cannot believe that this film only has a rating of 7 on this site. If you are a fan of Scorsese and are not sure you are going to like this just give it a chance, it deserves at least one viewing, if you give it that I am sure you will be amazed as I was. Scorsese's vision's in this movie are unlike any of his films, not to mention a great score by Phillip Glass.