Reviews

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

A new-age vanity project

By NINA MACLAUGHLIN | November 11, 2008

1.0 Stars

SERIOUSLY: Who's this film about, anyway?

Director Rick Rayâ€™s documentary about the Dalai Lama is a new-age vanity project. Ray chronicles his journey across India and the process of being granted an interview â€” 10 questions, 45 minutes â€” with the head of Tibetan Buddhism. In the right hands, this couldâ€™ve been a compelling film: the DL, with his Yoda-like timbre, is a joyful, rational spreader of peace (when asked about how to deal with the Middle East, part of his answer involves â€œmore picnicsâ€); Chinaâ€™s invasion of Tibet is worth a history lesson (â€œa cultural genocide is taking place,â€ the DL remarks); the selection process of a new DL is extraordinary; and youâ€™ve got the beauty of the Himalaya and all those fluttering prayer flags as backdrop. Here, Peter Katerâ€™s original score sounds like the soundtrack to a yoga video, and when Ray finally meets with the DL, he natters on to his High Holiness about his travels, his observations, his spiritual journey. When he lets the DL get a word in, Rayâ€™s smug smile tells us that â€œIâ€™m sitting with the Dalai Lama!â€ is all thatâ€™s running through his head.

Related: China, Tibet, and the Olympics, Wheel of Time, Tashi Delek, More

Topics: Reviews , Culture and Lifestyle, Religion, Dalai Lama, More

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