Meet Matthew Cooke, a Stranger reader who has vowed to do everything The Stranger suggests for the entire month of February. Look for his reports daily on Slog and Line Out. —Eds.
Sunday’s Stranger task sent me back to the Grand Illusion for a documentary that, frankly, could have bored the piss out of me.
Not that I’m uninterested in Buddhism, or at least my half-assed interpretation of it—the idea of reincarnation appeals to me, both for its humble logic and its relative lack of judgment compared to Christianity’s unbending hell/heaven, saint/sinner dualities. But I wondered if I could actually get my brain to work after a long weekend of sunshine, frivolity, and breasts.
The story of Unmistaken Child is told through the experience of Tenzin Zopa, a monk whose 84-year-old master has recently passed away. Zopa is devastated by the loss, and as the film begins he is bewildered by the implications of living without a man who was not just a father figure, but the only source of direction and purpose in his life. Without him, Zopa is not just emotionally broken; he’s spiritually and fundamentally adrift.
Redemption comes in the form of a quest, bestowed on him by the Dalai Lama himself: Find his former master’s reincarnation. Zopa, humbled and nervous, throws himself into the search, following a winding path of omens and divinations and eventually locating a child who seems to fit the bill.
And this is where it gets interesting. Zopa is profoundly devoted to his pursuit, at one point calling it “thousands and thousands of times” more important than his own life. Yet he credulously follows shaky leads, and one suspects he may be less interested in finding the right child than finding one he can believe is the right child.
He’s still grieving badly, and like anybody who’s lost someone important he grabs at any thread of that person, any last hope they might not be totally and truly gone forever. How can he possibly be an objective judge? Why should anyone trust his ability to find this missing soul when his own soul is in such chaos?
Zopa is a fascinating subject—his trusting face and plain-spoken nature made me root for him, no matter how troubling his state of mind. But in the end, I’m not sure what to think. Maybe he did find his beloved reincarnated master, and maybe his quest was noble and true. My suspicion is that the movie’s tale is much darker than that. Your own opinion will depend on your capacity for faith and your ability to accept hard truths.
You seem to be very pessimistic, but I’m wondering if that’s actually just your writing style.
wow, i used to work with a kid named Tenzin on the Seattle waterfront. He was about 20 years old and most of the time respectfully silent. Thanks for reminding me of the name. Could possibly have gone the rest of my life without ever thinking of him. cool kid, good co-worker.
reincarnation is the least interesting thing about Buddhism
This was one of the best films I saw at SIFF last year.
@1: Pessimistic? Not at all. I’m just a Westernized realist.
And just in case it wasn’t obvious, I loved the movie.
@1: don’t confuse pessimism and insight. I’d say Matthew has the latter, especially after his take on breasts yesterday. Mmmmmm, breasts.
How about the Unmistaken Child watering the tree planted years ago by the master? Picking out personal belongings? Pressing on to “his” mountain retreat despite a nose bleed that would scare the shit out of any other kid that age? Patiently putting his hand on the heads of hundreds of people, one at a time, as they file past? Wow. I was moved and impressed, and very happy for Zopa as he beamed in relief.
@7: You can certainly make an argument that Zopa has, in fact, found the right kid. You can even more easily argue that the filmmakers believe that. But did you notice that as he picked up those “personal belongings,” Zopa and the child’s father were guiding his hands?
There are other bothersome details. Why does he cry when they shave his head? Why is he so scared and confused when his parents leave him at the monastery? I could go on, but you get the point: Some of the boy’s actions seem like they may be those of a reincarnated lama; others seem more like those of a terrified and confused child.
Finally, if I may trot out the ‘ole Occam’s Razor, which is a more reasonable explanation: that a soul has been magically reincarnated and transformed? Or that a grief-stricken man, enabled by a deeply entrenched religion, stole a child from his parents and forced him into a life of rigorous, dogmatic solitiude?
I don’t believe the evidence is enough to say one way or the other. Your answer depends on how much faith you can muster…and you’ve mustered quite a bit more than I have.
But that’s the great thing about the movie; in the Michael Moore era, it’s rare that a documentary gets the hell out of your way and let’s you make up your own mind. The fact that you and I saw the film so differently speaks to its quality.
You need to figure out how to review a movie without revealing the whole story – or at least segregate the story from your opinion of it. I wanted to stop reading it once you hit spoiler territory, but I had keep going to just to see if you liked it or not.
I’m not confusing pessimism with insight. Not that I explained what I meant very well. Basically, a lot of your reports start out with you talking about how you expect the evening to go badly.
I think it’s a common writing style to start out with a negatively-framed intro and end up positive. (Lots of sentences are structured that way, like those that begin with “Even though…”) Anyway, I really was wondering if it is your style of writing or if it is just common that you’ve been approaching the events with an initial expectation that you won’t enjoy them, which is how your reports have been coming off to me.