• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Dec 16, 2019 Web Exclusive By Matthew Roe

The history of Tibet is an ancient and troubled one, with its many woes pervading through to the present day. Most infamously, after China forcefully incorporated Tibet into its mainland territory in 1950 through their Seventeen Point Agreement, it would successfully crush all major opposition and autonomy in the region in the subsequent decade during their Great Leap Forward. Throughout this international crisis, the 14th Dalai Lama (Tibet’s spiritual and secular leader) Tenzin Gyatso, attempted to retain Tibet’s autonomy, but was subsequently chased into an exile which continues to the present day. In the mid 1990s, Melissa Mathison approached Martin Scorsese with a project to adapt the Dalai Lama’s early life into a major feature film. This became Kundun.

The film is told in linear vignettes spanning 1937 to 1959, beginning with a search party for the newest Dalai Lama arriving in the remote rural Tibetan province of Amdo, close to the Chinese border. After administering a test to determine if the bold and brash youth Tenzin is the newest incarnation of the Dalai Lama, his whole family is brought to Lhasa, where he learns the trappings and nuances of being his country’s all-encompassing leader. While Tenzin grows and learns about his country and its people, the People’s Republic of China under Mao Zedong claims Tibet as a traditional part of China, and begins committing atrocities against Tibetan citizens in their bid to reincorporate it.

The cast of Kundun is almost exclusively populated with actual Tibetan exiles and their descendants (including extras who were playing Chinese soldiers). Two members of the Dalai Lama’s actual family plays the adult version of himself (Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, his grandnephew) and his mother (Tencho Gyalpo, his niece). The crew also employed many masters of their craft among its ranks, including producer Barbara De Fina, cinematographer Roger Deakins, composer Phillip Glass, and the indomitable editor Thelma Schoonmaker. Produced on a budget exceeding $28 Million, the movie was almost entirely shot in Morocco, in part due to the massive amount of controversy the film received throughout its production. While Disney was initially supportive of the work and stood behind its thematic messages upon its release, they cowardly reneged the following year after the Chinese government condemned the movie and its makers, and banned all Disney films and television. The construction of Shanghai Disneyland became a highly publicized part of Disney attempting to “undo the damage” of Kundun, though Scorsese remains banned from the country to the present day, and Mathison remained banned until her death in 2015.

Kundun was a box office bomb, unable to even scrape in a miserly $6 Million. The blame for this, according to Scorsese, could be placed at the feet of Disney and Buena Vista Pictures. This was due to their incredibly limited release of the movie in tandem with an almost non-existent marketing campaign. Mathison and Scorsese did much of the promotion themselves, which eventually contributed to Kundun’s surprise nomination for four Academy Awards.

When reviewing it at launch, Roger Ebert reviewed Kundun as a series of “episodes, not a plot,” and it’s an apt description of the work. The story does not have a continuous or (at times) cohesive flow, with its drama being expressed via sedate meditative moments or poetic montage. Aided by Glass’s rumbling synths and keyboards giving a further dream-like edge to the story, the film is less about historical accuracy (though it does appear by most accounts to be largely true) and more about achieving a thematic authenticity of the time and trials of the 14th Dalai Lama and that of greater Tibet. This movie is designed to make audiences empathize and find a deeper sense of spiritual connectivity with the characters, rather than scrutinize and catalog its historical faux pas. For the most part, it works. The rich production design, brilliant camerawork, pensive editing, and heartfelt tone makes Kundun one of Scorsese’s most personal movies (and likewise Mathison), while it also is considerably different than almost every other movie in their filmographies.

Kino Lorber seems to understand the incredible uniqueness of this tale, loading down its latest Blu-ray offering with more supplemental features than I have ever seen from this distributor. This special edition two-disc release comes equipped with an utterly fascinating audio commentary by renowned film historian and critic Peter Tonguette, and the booklet essay “The Case for Kundun” by filmmaker Zade Constantine. The 1998 behind-the-scenes documentary In Search of Kundun with Martin Scorsese by Michael Henry Wilson is buttressed by the 1993 Mickey Lemle documentary Compassion in Exile, an in-depth exploration of the 14th Dalai Lama. Additional lengthy interviews with Scorsese, Glass, Mathison, and Wilson are rounded out by almost forty minutes of press kit extras with the cast and crew, and Kundun’s theatrical trailer.

Whether or not you consider Kundun to be in the upper gallery of Scorsese’s works, the sheer density of material packed into this release is worth far over the asking price. The heart and passion which went into all of the films present provides a careful deliberation on not only the making of Kundun’s unique cinematic experience, but also the life and challenges of the people of Tibet. There is a soul to Kundun that doesn’t exist in any other Scorsese, De Fina, Mathison, or Deakins work, and by that virtue alone this film should be added to every cinephile’s collection.

(www.kinolorber.com/product/kundun-special-edition-blu-ray)