In an early episode of The Sopranos two of the younger gangsters are forced to wait for entry into a nightclub when Scorcese pulls up and is ushered into the club as a VIP.
"*I* liked Kundun!" shouts one of the gangsters, irony oozing out of the screenplay.
I had received that episode of The Sopranos through my rental queue and Kundun was due to arrive as the next disc. Spooky. That comment made me think it was not going to be a good film. And it isn't a good film The first 30 minutes are greatly hampered by some very stilted performances from a cast clearly struggling in an English language project. They manage to convey less emotion and commitment than the puppets in Parker & Stone's Team America.
As the film goes on the central performances improve but the pace of the thing never really picks up. The plot manages to be both epic (nations collide) and small (boy grows up) at the same time, but it is ultimately the smallness that you are left with : the story simply never takes off.
The Dalai Lama is, rightly, played with a stillness and spirituality but there are not enough moments where this stillness is played off against more fiery elements or where any wit shines through - we're simply expected to look at the unblinking face and think "aaaah. Such wisdom!" Well, sorry, I need a bit more than that.
Finally, there are some arty shots that look reasonably attractive but are not made transcendental as they seem not to add anything to the surrounding (in)action. They appear to be put in just for their own pretty sake.
A very disappointing film from the man who directed Goodfellas (one of my top 5 favourite films in history).
"*I* liked Kundun!" shouts one of the gangsters, irony oozing out of the screenplay.
I had received that episode of The Sopranos through my rental queue and Kundun was due to arrive as the next disc. Spooky. That comment made me think it was not going to be a good film. And it isn't a good film The first 30 minutes are greatly hampered by some very stilted performances from a cast clearly struggling in an English language project. They manage to convey less emotion and commitment than the puppets in Parker & Stone's Team America.
As the film goes on the central performances improve but the pace of the thing never really picks up. The plot manages to be both epic (nations collide) and small (boy grows up) at the same time, but it is ultimately the smallness that you are left with : the story simply never takes off.
The Dalai Lama is, rightly, played with a stillness and spirituality but there are not enough moments where this stillness is played off against more fiery elements or where any wit shines through - we're simply expected to look at the unblinking face and think "aaaah. Such wisdom!" Well, sorry, I need a bit more than that.
Finally, there are some arty shots that look reasonably attractive but are not made transcendental as they seem not to add anything to the surrounding (in)action. They appear to be put in just for their own pretty sake.
A very disappointing film from the man who directed Goodfellas (one of my top 5 favourite films in history).