Little Buddha (1993) on Netflix
The monk Lama Norbu searches for the child in whom his teacher, Lama Dorje, has been reborn. In Seattle he finds Jesse Conrad, and two more candidates wait in Nepal.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.2/1019,400 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes65%
Trailer
Plot summary
The Buddhist teacher Lama Dorje has died, and the monks of a monastery in Bhutan look for the child in whom he is reborn. Lama Norbu leads the search and comes to Seattle to meet Jesse Conrad, whose parents work as an architect and a teacher there. Jesse welcomes the visitors, while his parents, Dean and Lisa, keep their distance and grow more resistant when Norbu asks to take him to Bhutan for a test. Two more candidates turn up in Nepal, Raju and Gita. In a separate thread, Siddhartha, a prince of Lumbini, leaves behind a sheltered life to seek an answer to universal suffering.
Cast
- Raju Lalas Raju
- Greishma Makar Singas Gita
- Khyongla Rato Rinpocheas Abbot
- Geshe Tsultim Gyelsenas Lama Dorje
- Jigme Kunsangas Champa
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Little Buddha (1993)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto wrote a theme for the film that Bertolucci rejected; Sakamoto later used it as the title track of his own 1994 album Sweet Revenge, a pointed jab at the director's decision.
- Bernardo Bertolucci gave roles in the film to three Tibetan incarnate high lamas, saying "I wanted the real thing"; one of them, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, also worked as a consultant supervising every gesture and ritual the Tibetan monks performed.
- Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro shot the film's ancient Buddha flashback scenes in large-format 65mm Todd-AO while filming the rest of the story in standard 35mm anamorphic Technovision.
- Chris Isaak, one of the film's stars, was nominated for a Razzie Award as Worst New Star, the only Razzie nomination Little Buddha received.
