Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Register
Examples: Monday, today, last week, Mar 26, 3/26/04
Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.

Top five favorite Buddhist movies

DharmaChakraDharmaChakra
edited August 2011 in General Banter
These do not have to be literally "Buddhist" narratives or films. You can obviously argue how they were or weren't. But just curious. Some of mine are obvious, others not so much. And, just for kicks, I'm going to add a sixth.

1. Lost in Translation
2. Sunshine
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. Groundhog Day
5. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring

6. Thin Red Line :)

Comments

  • CloudCloud Veteran
    edited August 2011
    Definitely the Matrix, though it's not "about" Buddhism but rather has metaphorical/allegorical (whatever) connotations. Haven't watched other Buddhism movies except half of Seven Years in Tibet.

    Will also throw in a book series... the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan.
  • DharmaChakraDharmaChakra
    Great stuff here, yeah definitely doesn't have to be a clear-cut movie made specifically about Buddhism. Haven't read the Wheel of Time books but I've heard great things about Robert Jordan.


    I liked the first Matrix movie a lot. The second was okay, but the third one I thought fell short. Although the concept and story that was set in the first movie was amazing and completely original in Western Cinema.
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    The Cup
    Travelers and Magicians
    Genghis Blues
    The Knowledge of Healing
    The Tibetan Book of the Dead
  • riverflowriverflow Veteran
    edited September 2011
    A great "non-Buddhist Buddhist" film is Akira Kurosawa's 1953 film Ikiru (literally, "To Live"), about a petty bureaucrat who discovers he has stomach cancer and only months to live. This prompts a great deal of soul searching (including going down a couple dead ends) and in the end resolves to live not for himself, but for others. Its a deeply moving film.

    You could add quite a few other Kurosawa films to the list-- many of them are infused with a kind of deep compassion I've rarely seen elsewhere. Red Beard is another good one. Ran is another good one, but for very different reasons.

    And also, oddly enough: Groundhog Day. (as mentioned above-- I saw this again for the first time in years with new eyes)
  • tammtamm
    I'm going to throw in "The Fountain", even though many of the themes could be multi-religious. But there are for sure some Buddhist moments in there!
  • DharmaChakraDharmaChakra
    The Fountain, I completely agree with. One of the most profound movies I have seen in the last 5 years. All of these are great examples. Unfortunately I have yet to see Kurosawa's "To Live". Will have to check that out.

    Haven't seen The Cup, either. But, Travelers and Magicians is available to stream on Netflix at the moment and I definitely plan on watching that as it appears in my "TOP TEN" list.
Sign In or Register to comment.