‘Kundun’ Lacks a Certain Presence

“Kundun” is a stunningly beautiful object offered in tribute to a holy man, a gorgeous film that is nevertheless burdened by the defects of its virtues. Careful and respectful, it is everything a movie about the Dalai Lama should be except dramatically involving.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, this lovely piece of old-fashioned movie-making recounts the story of the early years of the Tibetan religious leader now in exile in India. And, as an end credit relates, it was “produced with the cooperation and contribution of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”

While obviously no one is suggesting that this revered winner of the Nobel Peace Prize has a hidden dark side the film shied away from exploring, “Kundun” has an inherent drawback because it is an authorized biography.

The difficulty is one of tone. Pure goodness is by definition a tricky subject to film, and being reverential and even worshipful toward “his Holiness,” as the filmmakers call him, can stand in the way of drama. More than that, if you are already emotionally invested in a story, as screenwriter Melissa Mathison (whose interest in Tibet is long-standing) and director Scorsese are, it can blind you to the fact that the emotions you feel so strongly are not being consistently transmitted on screen.

“Kundun” does have its strong dramatic sections. Both the early parts of the film, starting in 1937, when a monk on a quest recognizes a 2-year-old boy as the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama, and the closing sections, when the then-25-year-old spiritual leader finds himself forced to go into exile in India, are involving. But the extensive middle sections would be completely inert if it weren’t for the lush and atmospheric way the story is told.

With Dante Ferretti serving as both production and costume designer and shot by expert cinematographer Roger Deakins (“Fargo,” “The Secret Garden”), “Kundun” is a visual cornucopia, filled with pristine, spectacular images that encompass scenery (Morocco doubled for Tibet) and costumes as well as breathtaking shots of sand mandalas that were photographed by Phil Marco.

Equally potent in terms of creating an exotic atmosphere tangible enough to touch is the distinctive Philip Glass score, which mixes his usual hypnotic rhythms with sounds that could only come from Tibet.

The strongest section of “Kundun” is the initial one, detailing the real-life fairy tale story of the holy men from far-off Lhasa who stop to rest at an isolated Tibetan farmhouse and discover to their delight that the playful, self-possessed 2-year-old who lives there shows unmistakable signs of being the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, familiarly known as “kundun” (presence).

Scorsese has given several reasons, including an intense interest in the spiritual, for agreeing to direct Mathison’s script, but it may not be farfetched to suggest another one. Perhaps he remembered back to the time when he was a small boy in New York’s culturally distant Little Italy, a small boy who similarly felt he was destined for great things in the larger world. Whatever the reasons, Scorsese’s empathy for the boy Dalai Lama is evident, and these sections have the slow-motion magic only consummate filmmaking provides.

Once the chosen one gets to the Tibetan capital city of Lhasa and the young boy’s spiritual education begins, despite the best efforts of screenwriter Mathison (“E.T.,” “The Indian in the Cupboard”), “Kundun” slowly loses our interest. Part of the difficulty is that using four actors for the boy’s different ages makes it difficult to identify with him. Also, having to depend on inexperienced children with varying commands of English to tell a story of holiness and belief is especially problematical.

Paradoxically, the entrance of a flesh-and-blood enemy, the invading Communist Chinese, an event that should have added much-needed conflict, does not have that effect. Maybe because the evil is so blatant, both “Kundun” and the earlier and sillier “Seven Years in Tibet” have had trouble making Tibet’s plight as moving as it ought to be. And “Kundun’s” decision to turn Chairman Mao (Robert Lin) into an oddly fey and borderline campy maximum leader does not help the situation.

Still, “Kundun’s” depiction of the Dalai Lama’s final journey out of Tibet, complete with apocalyptic visions of disaster, turns out to be serious and moving. But, ironically for a film that helped poison Hollywood’s relationship with China, “Kundun” will have its greatest impact not on newcomers to Tibet’s tragedy but on those who are already true believers.

* MPAA rating: PG-13 for violent images. Times guidelines: bloody images of Chinese-led massacres.

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‘Kundun’

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 (age 2)

Tencho Gyalpo: The Dalai Lama’s Mother

Tsewang Migyur Khangsar: The Dalai Lama’s Father

A Cappa/De Fina production, released by Touchstone Pictures. Director Martin Scorsese. Producer Barbara De Fina. Screenplay by Melissa Mathison. Cinematographer Roger Deakins. Editor Thelma Schoonmaker. Costumes and production design Dante Ferretti. Music Philip Glass. Art directors Franco Ceraolo, Massimo Razzi. Set decorator Francesca Lo Schiavo. Running time: 2 hours, 11 minutes.

* Opens Thursday exclusively at AMC Century 14, Century City Shopping Center, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., (310) 553-8900.