Trailer
Plot summary
A child of two, born to a farming family in Amdo near the Chinese border, is found by lamas seeking the fourteenth Dalai Lama's next emanation. Tibet's regent, Reting Rinpoche, sent them after a vision. The lamas test the boy, asking him to pick out objects that had belonged to his predecessor, and he chooses correctly. He then travels with his family to the Potala Palace in Lhasa, where he is to be schooled as a monk and raised to lead Tibet.
Cast
- Tenzin Thuthob Tsarongas Dalai Lama (Adult)
- Tencho Gyalpoas Mother
- Tsewang Migyur Khangsaras Father
- Gyurme Tethongas Dalai Lama (Age 12)
- Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzinas Dalai Lama (Age 5)
- Tenzin Yeshi Paichangas Dalai Lama (Aged 2)
- Tenzin Topjaras Lobsang (5-10)
- Tenzin Lodoeas Takster
- Geshi Yeshi Gyatsoas Lama of Sera
- Losang Gyatsoas The Messenger (as Lobsang Gyatso)
- Sonam Phuntsokas Reting Rinpoche
Show all 20 cast
- Gyatso Lukhangas Lord Chamberlain
- Losang Samtenas Master of the Kitchen
- Jigme Tsarongas Taktra Rimpoche (as Tsewang Jigme Tsarong)
- Tenzin Trinleyas Ling Rimpoche
- Namgay Dorjeeas Kashag/Nobleman #1
- Phintso Thondenas Kashag/Nobleman #2
- Chewang Tsering Ngokhangas Layman #1
- Lobsang Samtenas Master of the Kitchen
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Kundun (1997)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Universal Pictures originally had a deal to produce Kundun, but after Universal was bought by Seagram, CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. worried about the effect on the company's beverage business and pulled out, sending the project to Disney instead.
- The Chinese government was so angered by the film that it threatened to block Disney's access to the Chinese market, and Disney responded by apologizing and limiting the film's distribution.
- Disney CEO Michael Eisner permitted the shooting of Kundun to proceed but, under Chinese Communist Party pressure, limited the film's distribution and marketing: it was released on Christmas Day 1997 in only two theaters nationwide.
- Martin Scorsese, Melissa Mathison and several other members of the production were banned by the Chinese government from ever entering China as a result of making the film.
- A grandnephew of the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, stars as the adult Dalai Lama, while the Dalai Lama's niece Tencho Gyalpo appears as his mother.
- Disney's former chief executive Michael Eisner later apologized for offending Chinese sensitivities over the film, calling it outright "a stupid mistake".
- The movie inspired the writing of the 2008 song "Chinese Democracy", the title track of the album of the same name by hard rock band Guns N' Roses.
