Critic's Grade: B-

Now here's a genuine odd duck of a movie. "Kundun" tells the story of the Dalai Lama (well, the fourteenth one, anyway), as he was plucked from his ordinary childhood existence and taken to the mountains of Tibet, where he was reared in the manner of non-violence and taught the path to enlightenment. As the Lama becomes much older in years, his eyes are opened to the turmoil of the aftermath of World War II in the outside world, as well as the growing conflict between Tibet and China, as the latter continues its quest to take possession of Tibet.

The first oddity about a movie like "Kundun" is its director, Martin Scorsese, the man who took us to the mean streets to witness the goodfellas take over the Big Apple and the Las Vegas casinos. This is a certainly a most unusual choice for the filmmaker, considering there's nothing her that even remotely resembles any of his regular themes and styles. What he has done here is portray the events of history in a straightforward, history book manner, revealing the play-by-play of the Lama's spiritual and intellectual growth while simultaneously shaping the forces surrounding his future exile.

But is there really anything to admire here, besides the lush cinematography and the illustrious production design of the Tibetan culture? Hardly. while all four of the actors chosen to play the Dalai Lama (Tenzin Yeshi Paichang, Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin, Gyurme Tethong, and Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong) all show apt displays of progressive growth in the stages of life the character is seen in, there remains an inexcusable lack of connection to the character on a higher level. We never get a real feel for the Lama's approach to the concept of enlightenment; there never seems to be any introspective exploration of his innermost feelings, something the film could have benefitted from deeply.

I attribute this problem to the film's choice of spending too much time with style than with substance. Yes, the film is beautiful to look at, and Scorsese's crew has gone out of its way to produce a replica of Tibet and all its trappings accurately. There are moments within the material that generate some enery, and those that don't; more often than not, the latter outweighs the former, and that can have devastating results, especially if there's very little interest in the material from the audience's viewpoint. In the end, "Kundun" is an admirable effort, and there are signs of great ambition here. It's just not as thought-provoking or meaningful as the rest of Scorsese's achievements; it's all spectacle and very little soul.

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