Little Buddha (1993) Reviews

I already saw this movie, in fact, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released, but, since it was such a long time ago, I thought I might as well check it out again. Obviously,  it is a rather minor effort in Bertolucci's otherwise rather stellar career but I still think there were many things to enjoy about the damned thing. Of course, you had the major obstacle of having Keanu Reeves playing Siddhartha who would eventually become no less than the Buddha. Basically, it is the very old dilemma of casting a famous actor above someone unknown who might have had a more accurate ethinicity. In this case, in my opinion, it was above all a rather odd choice to have an actor most widely known as being terribly wooden to portray one of the most highly sprititual figures that ever lived. And yet, it remains one of these rare movies dealing with spirituality, with no bad guys involved, and it was quite refreshing. Still, I'm not sure if it was such a good idea to mix the life of  Siddhartha with another plot dealing with the reincarnation of some lama. Concerning the reincarnation stuff, I wonder if most parents wouldn't freak out if someone would show up at their door saying that their young kid was the reincarnation of their guru. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you are interested in this subject.