Kundun (1997)

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Synopsis:
Kundun is a 1997 film written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the life and writings of the Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet. Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, a grand nephew of the Dalai Lama, stars as the adult Dalai Lama. "Kundun" (Wylie: Sku-mdun in Tibetan), meaning "presence", is a title by which the Dalai Lama is addressed. Kundun was released only a few months after Seven Years in Tibet, sharing the latter's location and its depiction of the Dalai Lama at several stages of his youth, though Kundun covers a period three times longer. The film — "made of episodes, not a plot" — has a straightforward chronology with events spanning from 1937 to 1959.; the setting
is Tibet, except for brief sequences in China and India. It begins with the search for the 14th mindstream emanation of the Dalai
Lama. Following a vision by Reting Rinpoche (the regent of Tibet) several lamas disguised as servants discover the location of a promising candidate: a child born to a poor farming family in the province of Amdo, near the Chinese border. These and other lamas administer a test to the child in which he must select from various objects the ones that belonged to the previous Dalai Lama. The child passes the test; he and his family are brought to Potala Palace in Lhasa, where he will be installed as Dalai Lama when he comes of age.