| Feature |
| Living Buddha |
| A review as it appeared in Presto Magazine after it's release in Christchurch, N.Z. 1998 |
| Original title: Living Buddha Technical Data: Colour, 131minutes, 35mm, Dolby Stereo, CD Soundtrack available from Virgin Records �1996 Mind Films GmbH [email protected] This movie has an obscure New Zealand connection. Several years ago while traveling in New Zealand, German filmmaker Clemmens Kuby told Venerable Lama Samten - of Karma Choeling Buddhist Monastery, Kaukapakapa - of his interest in filming in Tibet. Lama Samten told him he should wait and discuss this with his teacher, H.E. Tai Situ Rinpoche, who was visiting within the next few weeks. "Living Buddha" and "Tibet: the Survival of the Spirit" were born out of this meeting. Living Buddha is the real life story of one of Tibet's greatest and most revered spiritual teachers, the Gyalwang Karmapa. The Karmapa is the traditional head of the Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and the first incarnate Lama of Tibet. His line pre-dates even that of the Dalai Lamas. Previous Karmapas were gurus to Chinese and Mongolian emperors and renowned for their miraculous and compassionate activity. Each successive Karmapa left details of their future rebirth, prophesying such things as the date and circumstances of their birth, even the names of their future parents. When the previous Gyalwang Karmapa died in 1981, he had already entrusted his prediction letter to H.E. Tai Situ Rinpoche and it was on this basis that a successful search was made to find his reincarnation. Kuby's remarkable documentary follows the search party and documents each successive stage up to the time of Karmapa's first public blessing at the age of eight. The cinematography in this movie is truly stunning. It is only outshone by the engaging storyline and privileged glimpses of the life of an obviously remarkable little boy. Watching this movie is like reading a book you just can't put down. This screening is the first major release of the English language version of this movie, which has already been seen by 600,000 movie goers in Germany alone. My Rating: 10/10 Highly Recommended! |
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