Kundun

In Tibet a two year old is recognised as the rebirth of the late Dalai Lama. The film follows his childhood, his education and the years up to his departure after the Chinese occupation. The narrative does not set out a political history; events are given almost entirely through the perception of the child and then the young man, which keeps the outside world at a distance throughout. The weight goes to ritual, colour and repetition. Martin Scorsese directed, with Roger Deakins as cinematographer and a score by Philip Glass. Most of the cast are not professionals and some are related to the people they play. It was shot in Morocco. Before watching: the studio came under serious pressure in China over the film and its distribution stayed limited. The narrative is also deliberately slow and offers a way of seeing rather than a plot.