“SCORSESE AND SPIRITUALISM, MACH II”

By Raymond Benson

In 1988, filmmaker Martin Scorsese unleashed the mesmerizing—and undeservedly controversial—The Last Temptation of Christ. It revealed a side of the director that one would call “spiritual,” which to many was something of a surprise. After all, this was the guy who had given us Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull.

Nine years later, Scorsese presented yet another entry into what now could be called his “Spiritualism Trilogy,” i.e., three movies that deal with crises of faith. This one was Kundun, the epic biopic about the life of the Dalai Lama. (The third piece in the trilogy, Silence, appeared nineteen years after that, in 2016.)

It was the late screenwriter Melissa Mathison (E.T., The Black Stallion) who apparently got Scorsese interested in doing a picture about the Dalai Lama, whom the other lamas addressed as “Kundun.” Mathison had become friendly with the real exiled Dalai Lama and he had given his blessing for her to write a screenplay about his life.

The result was a fairly expensive ($28 million budget) period/costume piece with no recognizable/bankable stars about a figure who had little connection with Western audiences. The motion picture—as lush, beautiful, and well-intentioned that it is—failed at the box office and was contentious to boot. Kundun was banned in China, of course, and in fact, the Chinese government punitively banned all Disney films (the distributor) for some time until the studio apologized and worked to mend the relationship.

The story begins in 1937, when a young, precocious child born to poor farmers in Tibet is single-handedly chosen to become the next Dalai Lama after the death of the previous one. He is taken from his family to groom and educate. Then, in the late 40s, Communist China invades Tibet, there is a power struggle, and the Dalai Lama is forced to flee his country in 1959. He currently resides in exile in India.

Scorsese’s film is indeed gorgeous. Roger Deakins received one of his numerous Academy Award nominations for the cinematography. The picture was also nominated for Art Direction, Costume Design, and for Philip Glass’s haunting Original Score. The picture itself is meticulously paced, meditative, and, some might say, dull. Granted, while it’s not the type of crime picture Scorsese is known for, Kundun is anything but boring. Let’s just say that it came and went vastly underappreciated.

Kino Lorber’s new Special Edition 2-disk Blu-ray release gives us an excellent 1920x1080p restoration that beats any previous home video release. The accompanying audio commentary by film historian and critic Peter Tonguette is quite informative, as it also deals with Scorsese’s experiments in spiritualism in the cinema.

An entire second disk is devoted to supplements, although they are all vintage pieces produced around the time of the movie’s release. In Search of Kundun is a long and detailed account about the making of the film. There is also a lengthy interview with that documentary’s director, Michael Henry Wilson, on how he got involved with Kundun. Surprisingly extended outtakes from the documentary are presented as separate interviews with Scorsese, Philip Glass, and Melissa Mathison. There is an additional hour-long documentary, Compassion in Exile, about the real Dalai Lama. Finally, there is a substantial collection of EPK featurettes with the cast and crew that the studio produced to promote the film, and the theatrical trailer. The limited edition booklet essay is by filmmaker Zade Constantine.

Kundun may be considered an oddity in Martin Scorsese’s oeuvre, but when one studies the filmmaker’s thematic through lines in all his works, his choice to make it is not so mysterious. Kino’s new release is noteworthy and certainly attractive to Scorsese’s serious fans and to anyone interested in the life of one of the most respected religious leaders on the planet.

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