You would expect more from a director like Scorsese on an epic story such as this one. The Chinese occupation of Tibet and the escape of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, are certainly stories that have the potential for great movie-making. These are also important parts of human history and of the way our leaders deal with conflicts. In this case Non-Violence is a constant theme in the film. Scorsese has instead obviously wanted to concentrate on the story of the life of the 14th Dalai Lama as a boy and young adult and not on the Chinese occupation of Tibet, or the spiritual message of Buddhism. Either of these last two might have been better choices. In spite of this effort, character development is actually quite poor. One of the reasons this film tends to be boring at times is the fact that the characters are not played by professional actors. Perhaps it is for this reason that their characters are not being allowed to develop. Keep in mind though that these actors are actual Tibetans, closely related to the real story and to the Dalai Lama himself in real life. The decor is beautiful, and you often can't tell that the film was not shot in Tibet but in Morocco! This is a great story, but it is more a dramatised documentary than an entertaining movie. I would still recommend seeing it.
Review of Kundun
