Kundun (1997)
82%RT Audience Score: 79%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 4 Oscars
7 wins & 13 nominations total
Martin Scorsese’s Kundun is a visually stunning and meticulously crafted film that explores the early life of the Dalai Lama. While it may not be as dynamic as some of Scorsese’s other works, Kundun is a haunting meditation on Tibetan Buddhism and the oppression faced by its people. The film’s music ties together the beautiful imagery and induces a sense of alert detachment, allowing the audience to experience Tibet’s recent history through the Dalai Lama’s eyes. While the script may not offer fresh insights on Tibet’s non-violent culture, Scorsese’s direction and the film’s majestic spectacle of images and sounds make Kundun a must-see for any cinephile.
Kundun is like that one friend who’s really smart and accomplished, but just doesn’t have that spark that makes them stand out in a crowd. Sure, it’s a visually stunning film with beautiful music, but it’s missing that certain something that would make it truly memorable. It’s like a really good sandwich without any condiments – it’s still good, but it’s not quite as satisfying as it could be. Overall, it’s worth a watch if you’re into historical dramas or just want to see Martin Scorsese flex his directorial muscles, but don’t expect to be blown away.
Production Company(ies)
New Line Cinema, Wing Nut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company,
Distributor
Touchstone Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Atlas Mountains, Morocco
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for violent images
Year of Release
1998
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 14m
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Language(s):English, Tibetan, Mandarin
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 6, 1997 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 13, 1998
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $5,684,789
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $10,432,389
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,955
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,137,665
US/Canada gross: $5,684,789
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $10,432,389
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,603
US/Canada opening weekend: $72,095
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $132,304
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,830
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $28,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $51,383,948
Production budget ranking: 775
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $27,670,256
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$68,621,815
ROI to date (est.): -87%
ROI ranking: 1,937
Ice Cube – Doughboy (Darin)
Cuba Gooding Jr. – Tre Styles
Nia Long – Brandi, Tre’s Girlfriend
Morris Chestnut – Ricky Baker
Tyra Ferrell – Brenda Baker
Director(s)
Martin Scorsese
Writer(s)
Melissa Mathison
Producer(s)
Barbara De Fina
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 4 Oscars
7 wins & 13 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (61) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (15)
The film is, in many ways, a remarkable achievement but also a singularly undynamic entry in the director’s canon.
January 9, 2018 | Rating: 3/4
Mike Clark
USA Today
TOP CRITIC
It’s not exactly ‘Goodfellas.’ But it’s not every filmmaker who can create works as divergent as ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Kundun,’ either.
December 15, 2017
Jason Bailey
Vice
TOP CRITIC
The music ties together all the pretty pictures, gives the narrative some momentum, and helps to induce a kind of alert detachment, so that you’re neither especially interested nor especially bored.
February 1, 2010
David Edelstein
Slate
TOP CRITIC
Scorsese has taken the harsh mystery out of Tibetan Buddhism, and out of its oppression, too.
February 1, 2010 | Rating: C
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Disregarding commercial considerations, Scorsese’s haunting meditation on Dalai Lama’s early life is a majestic spectacle of images and sounds, but it’s bogged down by a routine script that fails to offer fresh insights on Tibet’s non-violent culture
December 20, 2006 | Rating: B+
Emanuel Levy
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Careful and respectful, it is everything a movie about the Dalai Lama should be except dramatically involving.
February 14, 2001 | Rating: 3/5
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Mesmerizing as visual pageantry but anemic when it comes to allowing access to this man or his religion.
November 10, 2019 | Rating: 2.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
The effect is to make one feel as if one is seeing Tibet’s recent history through the Dalai Lama’s eyes.
August 17, 2018
Pico Iyer
The New York Review of Books
Vigorously directed, sensual and hypnotic, Scorsese’s film is a visually extraordinary meditation on ritual, nature and humanity.
February 1, 2010 | Rating: 3.5/4
Sandra Contreras
TV Guide
Scorsese’s rich tableau of image and music bears a potent emotional weight.
March 29, 2009 | Rating: 3.5/4
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com
Kundun is surely the most gentle and meditative of Scorsese’s films, a placid biography with the scope of an epic, the quality of a storybook, and the dramatic stakes of a tragedy.
January 17, 2008
Sean Axmaker
Turner Classic Movies Online
There’s no denying the artistry of Kundun. Its heart also appears to be in the right place. But for those like me who don’t have a versed history in the modern history of Tibet or Buddhism, the scope is ultimately too big.
November 3, 2006
Ryan Cracknell
Movie Views…
Plot
The Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama as ‘Kundun’, which means ‘The Presence’. He was forced to escape from his native home, Tibet, when communist China invaded and enforced an oppressive regime upon the peaceful nation of Tibet. The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 and has been living in exile in Dharamsala ever since.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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