A Chinese Movie : The Biography of Siddhartha

The 2013 Hong Kong film The Biography of Siddhartha has Chinese playing Indians. Ray Lui Leung-wai of The Bund fame plays Siddhartha and other Chinese from Hong Kong and Malaysia play many other important people in his life; his mother and cousin, Maya and Devatta, King Bimbisāra, Sujātā, Kisa Gotami, Ambapali, Mahā Kāśyapa, Ānanda, Cunda. The monks in the low budget movie obviously don't wear their robes properly and do not appear as serene; and Siddhartha upon enlightenment appear to suddenly have extremely bulbous ear lobes and a bad hairdo. The film of a story that has been told and retold umpteenth time nevertheless serves as a refresher course; giving some new insights into some episodes of Buddha's life and prompting both relevant or irrevelant questions. The promotional poster has Siddhartha holding a lily and has prompted a friend to ask Why not a lotus? And you may start to wonder too why Buddha wasn't bald like the Buddhist monks and nuns.

2.4 ⭐

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