Little Buddha (1993)

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers (WGA):

Bernardo Bertolucci (story)
Rudy Wurlitzer (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 May 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Lama Norbu comes to Seattle in search of the reincarnation of his dead teacher, Lama Dorje. His search leads him to young Jesse Conrad...

Plot Keywords:

Kicked In Butt | Buddhist | Buddhism | Religion | Sickness

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Keanu Reeves	...	Siddhartha
Ruocheng Ying	...	Lama Norbu (as Ying Ruocheng)
Chris Isaak	...	Dean Conrad
Bridget Fonda	...	Lisa Conrad
Alex Wiesendanger	...	Jesse Conrad
Raju Lal	...	Raju
Greishma Makar Singh	...	Gita
Sogyal Rinpoche	...	Kenpo Tenzin
Ven. Khyongla Rato Rinpoche	...	Abbot
Ven. Geshe Tsultim Gyelsen	...	Lama Dorje
Jo Champa	...	Maria
Jigme Kunsang	...	Champa
Thubtem Jampa	...	Punzo
Surehka Sikri	...	Sonali
T.K. Lama	...	Sanjay

Also Known As:

Little Buddha (France)

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

France | Liechtenstein | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby Digital (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Germany:12 | South Korea:All | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Bhutan

Company:

CiBy 2000

Trivia:

For the scene in the forest with the ascetics where Siddartha becomes emaciated from lack of food, Keanu Reeves went on a crash diet of oranges and water.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Raju play with the GameBoy you can hear that he is playing Tetris. But if you watch closely you can see that it is not turned on at all.

Quotes:

Jesse Conrad: Were you sleeping lama?
Lama Norbu: No, I was meditating.
Jesse Conrad: What's meditating?
Lama Norbu: It is being totally quiet and relaxed, separating yourself from everything around you, setting your mind free like a bird, and you can then see your thoughts as if they were passing clouds
[looks out the window of a flying plane]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hollywood vs. Religion (1994) (V)

Great Cinematography, Two Different Films

The cinematography is absolutely breathtaking and alone worth the price of admission. On the other hand, trying to integrate the past with the present didn't work too well for me. The story of Siddharta needed to be expanded on and made a film on its own merits. I for one, wanted to learn more about this figure, and yes, I thought Keanu Reeves was just fine. The present day story didn't do anything for me except for the wonderful character Lama Norbu, he was fabulous. I felt this was a person I actually would like to meet.