His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is the subject of this documentary which is so messy and poorly put together that it feels almost like a waste of time to watch it.
First off this isn't really a great primer on His Holiness and is actually a loose sequel of sorts to a documentary filmmaker Mickey Lemle made 25 years earlier. Secondly the film lacks any kind of structure, it peters out around the 60 minute mark, comes back for a ten minute sequence on George W. Bush, fades out again and then comes back for some more talking heads and then finally mercifully ends.
It's very disappointing work from Lemle who has great access both to his Holiness and to several members of his inner circle and family.
The best parts by far are the parts where His Holiness talks a bit about his view of the world and also the politics of his life in exile are talked about a bit (only a very little, the movie assumes familiarity with his situation).
It's really too bad but the film comes across as a little stale and cold, completely unlike the man at the centre of the story.
First off this isn't really a great primer on His Holiness and is actually a loose sequel of sorts to a documentary filmmaker Mickey Lemle made 25 years earlier. Secondly the film lacks any kind of structure, it peters out around the 60 minute mark, comes back for a ten minute sequence on George W. Bush, fades out again and then comes back for some more talking heads and then finally mercifully ends.
It's very disappointing work from Lemle who has great access both to his Holiness and to several members of his inner circle and family.
The best parts by far are the parts where His Holiness talks a bit about his view of the world and also the politics of his life in exile are talked about a bit (only a very little, the movie assumes familiarity with his situation).
It's really too bad but the film comes across as a little stale and cold, completely unlike the man at the centre of the story.