Little Buddha
Short description
Bernardo Bertolucci directed Little Buddha, a drama that moves between two stories. In present-day Seattle, a young American boy named Jesse Conrad is visited by a delegation of Tibetan Buddhist monks led by Lama Norbu. The monks believe Jesse may be the rebirth of their late teacher, Lama Dorje, and they take him to Bhutan to be tested. Two other children are also candidates: Raju, a homeless boy from Kathmandu, and Gita, a girl from a wealthy Indian family. Alongside this search, the film tells the story of Siddhartha, the prince who became the Buddha.
The film was written by Mark Peploe and Rudy Wurlitzer and produced by Jeremy Thomas. Keanu Reeves plays Siddhartha, with Bridget Fonda and Chris Isaak as Jesse's parents, Ruocheng Ying as Lama Norbu, and Alex Wiesendanger as Jesse. It followed Bertolucci's The Last Emperor and The Sheltering Sky, and came before Stealing Beauty.
Released in December 1993, the film had a budget of 35 million US dollars and took about 5 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.2 out of 10 from around 19,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.3 out of 10 from roughly 461 votes. A critics' rating of 5.9 out of 10 from 27 reviews places it close to the audience scores, suggesting a mixed response across viewers and reviewers alike.
What's left behind the scenes
- The 14th Dalai Lama, after watching the film, was pleased with it but uttered only one phrase – “Buddha cannot be small.”
- The scenes in Bhutan were filmed directly in Paro, at the Rinpung Dzong fortress-monastery.
- The film is dedicated to the French entrepreneur Francis Bouygues, who produced it before his death in 1993.
- Some of the roles of monks in the film are played by well-known figures in contemporary Buddhism, in particular, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. They also acted as consultants to the director regarding the aspects of Buddhist life depicted in the film.
- The scenes in Nepal were filmed around the famous Boudhanath Stupa.
- For the scene where Siddhartha meditates with ascetics on the riverbank, Keanu Reeves had to lose a lot of weight, so he went on a strict diet of oranges and water.
- The theatrical version of the film has a runtime of 123 minutes.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
