INTER FAITH WEEK 2011, DAY 1: FAITHS FILM FESTIVAL

Here are the programme notes I put together  for Little Buddha, showing this evening at Phoenix Square as part of the Faiths Film Festival, celebrating Inter Faith Week and helping mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of Leicester Council of Faiths. Well, when I say, "put together", more like copied and pasted from the Internet Movie Database. Still, why reinvent the wheel?

For the uninitiated, Phoenix Square produces these notes as A4 black and white handouts, that patrons can pick up at reception, before or after they've seen the movie in question.

I wanted to do much more for this (and do it much better). Maybe put in some information about Buddhists worldwide, Buddhists in Britain and Buddhists in Leicester (as in our leaflets) but I ran out of time. I typed this up and emailed to the Box Office at Phoenix Square while still at the exhibition in Highcross, barely two hours before the movie was scheduled to be shown.

LITTLE BUDDHA (1993)

Director Bernardo Bertolluci 

Starring Chris Isaak, Bridget Fonda, Keanau Reeves

Plot summary (from Internet Movie Database) 

Lama Norbu comes to Seattle in search of the reincarnation of his dead teacher, Lama Dorje. His search leads him to young Jesse Conrad, Raju, a waif from Kathmandu, and an upper class Indian girl. Together, they journey to Bhutan where the three children must undergo a test to prove which is the true reincarnation. Interspersed with this, is the story of Siddharta, later known as the Buddha. It traces his spiritual journey from ignorance to true enlightenment.

Synopsis (from Internet Movie Database)

Little Buddha is a story about the quest of a group of monks, led by Lama Norbu (Ruocheng Ying), to seek out the reincarnation of his great Buddhist teacher, Lama Dorje (Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen). Lama Norbu and his fellow monks believe they have found a candidate of Dorje's reincarnation within a boy named Jesse Conrad (Alex Wiesendanger) in Seattle. While Jesse is fascinated with the monks and their way of life, his parents, Dean (Chris Isaak) and Lisa (Bridget Fonda), are wary, and that wariness turns into near-hostility when Norbu announces that he would like to take Jesse back with him to Bhutan to be tested. Jesse's father changes his mind however, after one of his close friends and colleagues commits suicide, seeming to realize that there could be more to life than work and money. He then decides to go to Bhutan with his son. In Nepal, two children who are also candidates are encountered, Raju (Rajuh Lal) and Gita (Greishma Makar Singh). 

In the story, the Lama Norbu relates Buddha's life story from a book entitled "Little Buddha," which is also enacted as a story within the movie. In the story, a Hindu prince called Siddhartha sets on a journey to achieve his goal. Mara, a jealous demon, senses that Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves) is about to attain enlightenment and sends his daughters to distract him. Failing to do so, he attempts to shatter Siddhartha's resolve and thus begins an onslaught of threats, intimidation and temptation. 

Mara summons a terrifying horde of monsters of every conceivable description but even something as horrific as this still leaves Siddhartha unmoved, unperturbed. Instead he transforms the weapons which these hosts throw at him into lotus petals which exude a lovely fragrance as they gently floated down to earth. Mara decides that Siddhartha will not deny himself and turns into his image in a reflection on a pool of water. Instead Siddhartha reaches and pulls the image out of the water. The classic Buddhist dialogue between Mara and Siddhartha takes place:

Mara: "You who go where others dare not; Will you be my God? The architect of my house?" 

Siddhartha: "Finally I meet the illusion of self; Your evil house will not be built again."

Mara: "But you live in me; I am your house."

Siddhartha: "O, trickster; phantom of my own ego, you are pure illusion. You, self, do not exist. The earth is my witness to this Supreme Enlightenment."

Lama Norbu explains that Siddhartha defeated an army of demons, simply through his observance of patience and tolerance. He achieved great peacefulness and compassion, through self-detachment from illusions.

In the end, it is found that all three children are reincarnations of the Lama Dorje, separate manifestations of his body (Raju), speech (Gita), and mind (Jesse). His reincarnation represents the three most important aspects of life. A funeral is held for Lama Norbu. The children distribute his ashes to respect Norbu's teaching of reincarnation through setting off the ashes in many places.

“Little Buddha” is being shown as part of Phoenix Square’s short season of films with themes or subject matter of religion or belief as part of Inter Faith Week 2011 (being held throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Sunday 20 – Saturday 26 November). Our Faiths Film Festival is being promoted in association with Leicester Council of Faiths, which is celebrating its 25^th anniversary during this period.

George M Ballentyne, Equality & Diversity Officer, Leicester Council of Faiths

Number of paying customers for Little Buddha this evening: 2 (and one of those is Javid Djalili, who came up from London to "soak up the atmosphere" as he put it. He'd seen Little Buddha before and wasn't intending to see it this evening, but he decided to do so in then end, in order to swell - i.e. double - the numbers. He said that he enjoyed the film more seeing it this evening than he did first time round - well, thank goodness for that!)