One of the most intriguing of all religious practices is the Tibetan Buddhist belief that dead holy men, when reincarnated, must be located as small children and schooled to return to their esteemed state.
The movies have taken a couple of high-profile attempts at dramatizing this ritual. Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Little Buddha” had one such future Lama found in Seattle.
Martin Scorsese’s “Kundun” told the biographical tale of the Dalai Lama’s youth. Both films had scenes similar to those found in “The Unmistaken Child,” a fascinating new documentary.
This is the real deal: Director Nati Baratz followed the child-finding process for more than five years.
His hero is a young monk, Tenzin Zopa, who spent his life (from the age of 7, by his own choice) as a disciple of the elderly wise man Geshe Lama Konchong. Who better, then, to be officially appointed as the searcher for the reincarnation?
We follows Tenzin Zopa — a gentle soul who admits his uncertainty about being worthy of the daunting task — as he treks through the mountains of Tibet. Various signs have indicated that the child will likely be from a certain district, so the search is concentrated there.
Here’s one of the great draws of this movie: the photography of a monk walking along age-old footpaths in stunningly beautiful countryside. What an unusual journey it is.
And what a quest: to stop villagers and ask them if any 1-year-old babies might be in the vicinity — and then to see if said babies “recognize” beads and other trinkets that belonged to Geshe Lama Konchong.
The way this plays out will have you scratching your head at times, or possibly signing up to be a reincarnation believer. There are some uncanny moments.
In the final half-hour, the film must confront a wrenching truth: A child is being taken from his parents, to enter a life no one can imagine, let alone choose at a young age.
Baratz contemplates this with the same even temper as the rest of the lengthy saga.
Maybe that’s because every step along the footpath seems to be treading in some ancient tradition, which lends the search the quality of myth, or at least something that will continue to go on long after the people in the movie, or the people watching it, are gone.
That lends perspective to even the most emotional events.
“The Unmistaken Child”
Documentary account (shot over the course of more than five years) tracking the selection of a youthful reincarnation of a Tibetan holy man, carried out by the Lama’s trusted disciple. A fascinating ritual that just happens to take place in incredibly beautiful countryside. (In Tibetan, Hindi, and Nepali, with English subtitles.)
Rated: Not rated; probably PG for subject matter
Showing: Varsity
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