Siddhartha is a young man who leaves home and sets out on a long search for the meaning of life. He's like a many protagonists from folklore, who've sought immortality, perfect honesty or whatever - he's engaged on a quest for something that doesn't exist and isn't worth finding, which WE could have told him at the very beginning; but of course he must find out for himself. His character matches that of his counterparts in folklore. He's a nice chap, a bit obsessive, very clever - but on the one point that motivates him he's exceptionally dense. He does so much navel-gazing that when tragedy touches him we're surprised he even notices. Don't let this put you off. You'll like him all the same.
(By the way, although Siddhartha's character is much the same at the end as it is at the beginning, there is a brief unconvincing montage that shows him corrupted by worldly values. We never see the transformation and it's hard to believe that it could possibly have taken place.)
The India in which the story takes place is timeless (albeit convincingly solid), although we soon find out that Siddhartha is a contemporary of Buddha, who he meets but who doesn't appear in the film. (It's a kind of Buddhist `Ben-Hur'.) I thought this was a nice touch; but the intrusion of real world creeds is indeed an intrusion. One problem with this kind of story is that the audience is really just waiting for the hero to realise that he's chasing a rainbow's end, and speaking for myself I'd prefer to watch the hero's life, rather than listen to empty platitudes and claptrap, while I wait. But I must say the platitudes have been very prettily dressed up. Hesse or Rooks or whoever is responsible had a great gift for making nothing sound like something.
Photography is gorgeous and the gentle editing lulls us into accepting the fairytale. There's a lovely smorgasbord of Indian music. (SOME of this music you're bound to like - it's much too varied for any one person to dislike it all.) It's not an arresting film, but it's a sweet and guileless one. Try to see it under circumstances that best allow you to absorb the sights and sounds.
(By the way, although Siddhartha's character is much the same at the end as it is at the beginning, there is a brief unconvincing montage that shows him corrupted by worldly values. We never see the transformation and it's hard to believe that it could possibly have taken place.)
The India in which the story takes place is timeless (albeit convincingly solid), although we soon find out that Siddhartha is a contemporary of Buddha, who he meets but who doesn't appear in the film. (It's a kind of Buddhist `Ben-Hur'.) I thought this was a nice touch; but the intrusion of real world creeds is indeed an intrusion. One problem with this kind of story is that the audience is really just waiting for the hero to realise that he's chasing a rainbow's end, and speaking for myself I'd prefer to watch the hero's life, rather than listen to empty platitudes and claptrap, while I wait. But I must say the platitudes have been very prettily dressed up. Hesse or Rooks or whoever is responsible had a great gift for making nothing sound like something.
Photography is gorgeous and the gentle editing lulls us into accepting the fairytale. There's a lovely smorgasbord of Indian music. (SOME of this music you're bound to like - it's much too varied for any one person to dislike it all.) It's not an arresting film, but it's a sweet and guileless one. Try to see it under circumstances that best allow you to absorb the sights and sounds.