Little Buddha
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Little Buddha is a 1993 drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, written by Rudy Wurlitzer and Mark Peploe, and produced by usual Bertolucci collaborator Jeremy Thomas. An international co-production of Italy, France, and the United Kingdom, the film stars Chris Isaak, Bridget Fonda and Keanu Reeves as Prince Siddhartha (the Buddha before his enlightenment).
Plot
Tibetan Buddhist monks from a monastery in Bhutan, led by Lama Norbu, are searching for a child who is the rebirth of a great Buddhist teacher, Lama Dorje. Lama Norbu and his fellow monks believe they have found a candidate for the child in whom Lama Dorje is reborn: an American boy named Jesse Conrad, the young son of an architect and a teacher who live in Seattle. 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, 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 India, 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, and reality. Ultimately, he battles Mara (a demon 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. His work finished, Lama Norbu enters a deep state of meditation 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 that was seen being constructed during the movie is destroyed, "with one swift stroke."
Cast
- Bridget Fonda as Lisa Conrad
- Keanu Reeves as Siddhartha
- Chris Isaak as Dean Conrad
- Ying Ruocheng as Lama Norbu
- Alex Wiesendanger as Jesse Conrad
- Raju Lal as Raju
- Greishma Makar Singh as Gita
- Sogyal Rinpoche as Kenpo Tenzin
- Ven. Khyongla Rato Rinpoche as Abbot
- Ven. Geshe Tsultim Gyelsen as Lama Dorje
- Jo Champa as Maria
- Jigme Kunsang as Champa
- Thubtem Jampa as Punzo
- Surekha Sikri as Sonali (as Surehka Sikri)
- T.K. Lama as Sangay
- Doma as Ani la
- Santosh Bangera as Channa (charioteer of prince Siddhartha)
