Life of Buddha

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Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Directed By: Martin Meissonnier
Studio: Arte
Release Date: 2004-05-18
The quest for enlightenment known as Buddhism is rapidly attracting followers in the western world today. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a best-selling author and his personal appearances in the U.S draw huge crowds. Popular films such as LITTLE BUDDHA, KUNDUN, and SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET have also fueled American curiosity. LIFE OF BUDDHA breaks new ground in revealing the fascinating story of Prince Siddhartha and his spiritual transformation into the Buddha, the great teacher who changed the entire world. This beautifully produced DVD, featuring nearly an hour of additional materials from the world’s leading Buddhist scholars and spiritual leaders, is a must-see for anyone seeking answers to life’s mysteries.

Commentary
Life of Buddha.
Documentary on the historical Buddha. Excellent commentary from traditional storytellers, archaeologist, historians and senior members of the Sangha. Visits the sacred/ historical places of Guru Shakyamuni's life. Superb.

Informative
It starts with storytellers telling the tales of life of the Buddha and then goes into historical facts. Venturing into what life might have been like in that time period. Asking the question, was Siddharta reared in Shaman or other religious practices of the time? This biographical accounting of the Buddha was informative.

Makes me want to go to India and sit on Vultures Peek to meditate. I have watched it over and over.

Not what I expected
It's a narrative. I thought it would be the life of Buddha as portrayed by actors. Kinda dry. The cover art is beautiful tho.

A documentary about the life of the Buddha
This 90-minute documentary (with audio in English, French, or German) tells the traditional story of the life of the Buddha and intersperses information about the way of life in northern India at the time of the Buddha.

If you're new to Buddhism, you may find the film a little slow, with more detail than you really want. I think it will be more interesting to those who already know something about Buddhism. I learned details of the story of the Buddha that were new to me, and I enjoyed getting a better sense of how the Buddha might actually have lived. For many years, in teaching classes on Buddhism, I've shown pictures from the children's book "Prince Siddhartha" to illustrate the story of the Buddha, but now I show excerpts from this video instead or in addition.

The DVD's bonus features (50 minutes' worth) seem to be footage that didn't make it into the actual film. I found much of it pretty dull, but the extra interview material from Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh was a nice bonus. I especially liked his discussions of the Buddha, karma, and nirvana, and I use those in my teaching.

Good educational DVD
You can learn a lot about Siddhartha Gautama, The Buddha, from this DVD. However, the first half is a bit boring (I showed it to my high school students in a World Religions class and they dozed through the first 30 minutes!) The second half is much better. One major drawback is that a few of the experts who are interviewed in the program have such thick accents that they are very difficult to understand. But, on the positive side, this program is beautifully filmed, showing many of the places where Siddhartha spent time during his life. And, as far as I can tell, it is an accurate and detailed retelling of the events of his life. I greatly enjoyed it and my students leanred a lot from it (once they woke up!)