Kundun (1997)

KUNDUN is a feast for the eyes and not much more.  Hello Dalai: The 
Early Years isn't much of a head- *or* heart-tugger, but director 
Martin Scorsese (!)-- with photographer Roger Deakins and produc-
tion/costume designer Dante Ferretti-- paints some of the season's 
prettiest pictures.  (And some of the ugliest ones, too!  I'd put 
down those nachos, if I were you, before they begin "burying" the 
Dalai's dad.  Watch for the sharpening of knives.  And could they 
have found anyone creepier than Robert Lin to play Mao Zedong, for 
the Dalai's visit to Peking?  He's a scary dude.)  The nearly all-
Tibetan cast is surprisingly effective, as well, save for three of 
the four actors who play the Big L at age 5, age 10, and as a young 
adult.  They're all a bit bland, if you ask me.  Of course, that's 
probably the point.  Good score, too, by Philip Glass.  (Rated "PG-
13"/128 min.)
 
Grade: B-

Copyright 1998 Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros

Originally posted to triangle.movies in MOVIE HELL: January 18, 1998