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• Director Martin Scorsese's epic biopic Kundun details the early life of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.

• Fast Facts

  1. Release date: December 25, 1997
  2. Director: Martin Scorsese
  3. Screenwriter: Melissa Mathison
  4. Producer: Barbara De Fina
  5. Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
  6. MPAA rating: PG-13
  7. Run time: 134 minutes
  8. Music composed by Philip Glass
  9. Nominated for four Academy AwardsYahoo! Movies: "Kundun" Awards and Nominations
  10. Tencho Gyalpo, who plays Tenzin's mother, is the Dalai Lama's real-life nieceSalon: Kundun Review (January 16, 1998)

• Plot Summary

  Before the age of three, Tenzin Gyatso is declared the fourteenth reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and leaves his family to be raised in a monastery. As he grows up in virtual isolation, the young spiritual leader is coached in the ways of Buddhism, but remains ignorant to the happenings of the outside world . After the Chinese invade Tibet in 1950, the Dalai Lama attempts to dissuade Chinese leader Mao Zedong from overtaking the country, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. He must then make the decision between staying in Tibet to fight for his people's freedom or fleeing the country to save his own life.

• Cast

  • Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong: Dalai Lama (Adult)
  • Gyurme Tethong: Dalai Lama (Age 12)
  • Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin: Dalai Lama (Age 5)
  • Tenzin Yeshi Paichang: Dalai Lama (Aged 2)
  • Tencho Gyalpo: Mother

• Related Pages on Mahalo

  Martin Scorsese | Dalai Lama | Tibet | Buddhism | Tibetan Independence | Philip Glass The Last Emperor | The Last Temptation of Christ | The King of Comedy | Goodfellas | The Departed | The Last Waltz | Mao Zedong | Silence Movie | Shutter Island Movie

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