The Life of Buddha

Prince Siddhartha's spiritual journey and transformation into the Buddha are envisioned and described in this film by local storytellers, monks, archeologists who roam the sites known to have been visited by the Buddha during his wanderings, by religious scholars and by school children.

Visually, it is a lovely film that captures his life as the camera journeys chronologically along the journey to enlightenment.

Director Martin Meissonnier's The Life of Buddha chronicles the Buddha's palace life, his ascetic life and the way of life in northern India at the time of the Buddha. There are many interesting asides, such as the possible interaction between Prince Siddhartha and Mahavira, the last of a long series of prophets of Jainism.

Though I felt that the beginning of the film dwelled two heavily on myths about Prince Siddhartha and his birth, many fascinating details of his life come to light as the film progresses.

The presence of commentator Thich Nhat Hanh is a lovely feature of this film. The Vietnamese Buddhist explains both in the film and in the DVD's extra features various tenets of Buddhism and speaks of his vision of the Prince who achieved enlightenment.