Kundun (1997) - Directed by Martin Scorsese, a film about the Dalai Lama

Martin Scorsese is persona non grata in China, and will never be allowed there. But I guess he would have expected that if he made a movie about the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama, the 14th in line, is the spiritual leader of the people of Tibet and the administrator before the Chinese invaded the region and took complete control of Tibet (declaring that Tibet was always a part of China and another province); the Dalai Lama now has a base in the northern Indian town of McLeodganj and no longer supports the concept of Tibetan and independence, instead asking for more autonomy for Tibet inside China. However, China, mindful of the position of the Dalai Lama in the minds of the people of Tibet, considers the Dalai Lama as a separatist leader and refuses to try and let him get any legitimacy. Any film maker who makes a movie on the Dalai Lama that does not position China's viewpoint will be viewed with hostility by the Government of China; and that is what Martin Scorsese has faced (in fact, the first studio that was to make the movie, Universal backed down once it became clear that China will be openly hostile; the second one, Disney refused to back down).
The movie is called Kundun (another title for the Dalai Lama, which means 'The Presence') is made very beautifully, but for a movie with drama and wonderful scenes, the movie did pretty badly at the box-office, earning only around $6 million. The movie was written by Melissa Mathison, and is based on the life and stories of the Dalai Lama.



The Dalai Lama is typically selected by a test where a young child (often as old as 2-4 years) must satisfy a group of experts that the child is the incarnation of the previous Dalai Lama,and so it was with the 14th Dalai Lama; the regent Reting Rinpoche had a vision, and based on that, senior lamas go to the location of the vision, finding a young child who is able to identify objects that belong to the previous Dalai Lama. On completion, he along with family come to the Potala Palace in Lhasa (the traditional headquarters of the Dalai Lamas); once he comes of age, then he will be enthroned.
The Dalai Lama is a young child after all, and passes through some emotional trauma including becoming homesick, but is comforted by the regent (regent Reting however loses a power struggle and is imprisoned), with the Dalai Lama becoming more active. However, this is the same time in which the Communists have taken over China and claim Tibet to be a part of China. They soon invade, and after some initial reconciliation, the Communists are recognized as oppressors. The Dalai Lama even meets Mao in Beijing, but the Dalai Lama will not fit in the overall plans of the Communists and is seen as a powerful influence against the interests of China. When he is threatened, the Dalai Lama makes his escape to India through a difficult journey ahead of the pursuing Communists.

Comedy: Baby's day out

Baby's Day Out was released in 1994, and was a hit, seemingly continuing in the line of Home Alone. While Home Alone dealt with a young boy planning and scheming on how to ward off thieves, Baby's Day out takes a toddler who through a series of incidents manages to outwit a trio of kidnappers. Given the age of the baby, it is impossible for these events to happen through deliberate action, but in fact the tale happens on the basis of a book called 'Baby's Day Out'. It of course helps that the kidnappers are bumbling kidnappers.
So what's the story like: Bink is the 9 month old baby of rich parents, Bennington Sr. and Lorraine. 3 kidnappers, Eddie, Veeko and Norby get the idea of kidnapping the baby for ransom. They arrive at the Bennington home taking the place of previously scheduled photographers, and manager to get the baby away by pretending to setup a good photographer. And then starts a series of adventures. They try to feed the baby and make a mess out of it, and when attention is diverted, the baby starts to climb to the roof and eventually climbs on a plank that leads to the next building. When the panicky kidnappers try to follow him, one of them falls down a big fall and into a garbage bin.
Now the baby is away from their clutches, and the rest of the movie is about trying to catch him. They chase him when he gets into a bus, from there into a department store, find him again when he suddenly shows up on TV, into another taxi, into a zoo (where the gorilla beats up the 3 kidnappers), into a rabbit hole. In a park when they catch the baby, he sets fire to one of them, moving onto a construction site where the baby crawls onto a girder and after a series of mis-steps that afflict the kidnappers, escapes. In the meantime, the family discovers that he is following the places in the book and head for the final destination, an Old Solder's Home, where he is finally reunited with his family.
This was an enjoyable movie, but if I was the kidnapper, after so many accidents, I would realize that fate was against me and given up.