Hacker Cinema
Kundun
1997 · Film · 134 min
Directed by Martin Scorsese
From childhood to adulthood, Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.
2 positive1 negative4 neutralfrom 7 commenters
Where to watch
No streaming data for this title.
Videos commenters linked
From YouTube links in the comments below. Most are clips and trailers; “Full” means the uploader says so.
7 comments on Hacker News
Philip Glass did incredible work in the film, Kundun[0][1]. This movie has unfortunately been buried by Disney in the US and is not on any streaming platforms.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqqUjQf43oo&list=PL50A4C9AF054A18BA
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundun
He really didn't. People who don't really know his work think he just makes mobster movies. But he is actually a quite a varied filmmaker. How does being "depressed, violent, and Italian" fit into The Last Temptation of Christ (which controversially reinterpreted Jesus' story), or Hugo, about the great French filmmaker Georges Méliès? Or Kundun about the Dalai Lama? Or Silence about Japanese Christians?
Ironically, Disney would _like_ Scorsese’s beautiful 1997 film “Kundun” to be fake (but it isn’t).
https://filmschoolrejects.com/kundun-scorseses-buried-masterpiece
That’s certainly seems to be true for Kundun (1997).
The Chinese Communist Party wasn’t happy the film was made in the first place and would probably ban Disney from their market if it was available for streaming in the USA.
It’s quiet, limited sale on DVD is still tolerated.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundun
In the Kundun movie, when the Chinese set up speakers blaring music in Tibet, the Dalai Lama says "They have taken away our silence."
That's what the ambient music in semi-public spaces we have to go to out of necessity, such as airports, shopping centers, or taxis, reminded me of.
More concretely, the tech industry does good if and only if people reading this (and others like them) do good, including by advocating for good to their peers, employers, etc. There is nothing inherently good about the industry, or about you and me.
How to do it is complicated. If people like the Saudis offer money, consider the consequences. Consider your power to say 'no' to the influence they may wish to wield and how much you are legitimizing them by association.
As an example, Chinese censors now influence Hollywood. The Chinese government threatens to deny their market to those who don't cooperate, and so Americans and the world see films that are effectively censored, to a degree, by the Chinese government. For example, in the 1990s Disney made the film Kundun, about the Dalai Lama. China penalized Disney heavily in the domestic market.
In October 1998, [Disney head Michael] Mr. Eisner met Zhu Rongji, who had just been named prime minister, at China’s leadership compound in Beijing. Mr. Eisner apologized for “Kundun,” calling it a “stupid mistake,” according to a transcript of the meeting.
“This film was a form of insult to our friends, but other than journalists, very few people in the world ever saw it,” Mr. Eisner said during the meeting. (“Kundun” bombed, taking in just $5.7 million against a production budget of about $30 million.)
Mr. Eisner said the company had learned a lesson.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/business/international/china-disney.html
Seen many films critical of China lately?
One reason this may be interesting to HN readers: There are many stories, and I'd even say it's well established, that Hollywood films are edited to please Chinese censors. Effectively, the Chinese government censors many U.S. movies.
For example, per a recent NY Times story, the head of Disney went to China and apologized to the government for "Kundun" (about the Dalai Lama) and promised they'd never make another film like it.[0] When was the list time you saw a Hollywood film critical in any way of China? I've read about many recent script adjustments: For example, the Mandarin in the recent Iran Man movie being changed to a non-Chinese character, or the gratuitous product placement of the Chinese space agency in The Martian.
Now a leading Chinese businessperson, who regardless of his views (I don't know either way) is subject to pressure from the Chinese government, has a seat on the board of Spielberg's enterprise.
[0] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/business/international/china-disney.html