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10 Questions for the Dalai Lama
Product Group: DVD
Studio: MONTEREY VIDEO
ISBN: B000U788UM
UPC: 012233000122
Binding/Media: DVD
Running Time: 85 minutes
Release Date: 2007-10-23
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
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Editorial Reviews
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Description
How do you reconcile a commitment to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray. Ray examines some of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving together observations from his own journeys throughout India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an extraordinary spiritual leader. This is his story, as told and filmed by Rick Ray during a private visit to his monastery in Dharamsala, India over the course of several months. Also included is rare historical footage as well as footage supplied by individuals who at great personal risk, filmed with hidden cameras within Tibet. Part biography, part philosophy, part adventure and part politics, "10 Questions for The Dalai Lama" conveys more than history and more than answers - it opens a window into the heart of an inspiring man. If you had only one hour, what would you ask?
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Customer Reviews
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Exquisite film!
Rating  (5)
Date: 2010-01-16
Exquisite film that is much more than the title suggests. It's really a travelogue through Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama's biography, capped off with the Dalai Lama's answers to ten tough questions.
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Always the same
Rating  (3)
Date: 2010-01-09
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
The Dalai Lama seems like a great guy, but if you didn't know his ways you might find him a little disconcerting. Rick Ray, the filmmaker, yearned to get some footage of the man, but the production company that sent him to India had neglected to tell Dharamsala that he was coming, so he found himself in utter despair, thousands of miles from home in a caste-ridden land where he didn't know a soul, with no date with his target. The resulting film is the result of his coming up with Plan B (the whole movie might be called, "Plan B") which was to contact the press office and ask for a brief interview. I don't know why. It seems like Dalai is very familiar with being interviewed, and has felt the ambiguous kiss of the camera's gaze upon his handsome face since a very young age. Why. he has been famous since 1938 or so and really knows how to play to the camera.
Ray doesn't seem to be able to penetrate much beyond the public face of the Dalai Lama. Is there a private face? Maybe he's one of those celebrities who are always on, like William Burroughs used to be and like John Waters is always John Waters. Footage of Dalai twenty years ago is exactly the same as footage of today--the illusion is aided considerably by clever use of his standard red and saffron colored robes and the same style glasses. And always that unearthly laugh, promoted by his fans as his "sense of humor," but in Rick Ray's well-researched documentary that laugh keeps coming out at unexpected, not to say unwarranted places, like the Joker locked up in Arkham Asylum. Rick gets high marks from me for not betraying even by the blink of an eyelash, any surprise or alarm when that infernal laugh floats up into the high corners of the palace. He just sits there, like a man, knees apart, elbows on Indian exile chair, and a sort of smile plays over his lips, he breathes stertorously like a man thinking thoughts so ecstatic they seem almost visible. Oh s--t, I'm sitting right here and the f&&ing Dalai Lama is answering my 10 questions! Play it cool, buddy, play it cool.
It seems so sad that, when Dalai finally leaves us, the Chinese have kidnapped the child lama who ws supposed to help locate the next him. Worse, they have brought onto the stage their own impostor child lama, whom Rick Ray regards with utmost suspicion. He doesn't seem to have much good to say about anything Chinese.
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embarrassing to watch
Rating  (1)
Date: 2009-12-14
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I'll be short here, because most has been said already by the other reviewer who gave one star. This is an incredibly badly researched film, superficial to the extreme, and full of embarrassing platitudes. Why do poor people seem so much happier than rich people? The filmmaker has apparently never actually bothered to get to know some of the poor people he refers to. A smiley face does not mean a happy life, especially in Asia.
To actually get the privilege to interview the Dalai Lama personally, and not even do the most basic homework first, is in my opinion an incredible show of disrespect for the Dalai Lama (who has a very busy schedule).
The film does seem to satisfy a certain Western desire for happy poor people and saintly Buddhist Tibetans, and perhaps this explains the many good reviews. But if you want to learn something about the Dalai Lama or the Tibetans, then better watch another film or better yet, read a book.
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amateurish & self-absorbed
Rating (1)
Date: 2009-12-01
7 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
Travel "filmmaker" Rick Ray didn't seem to do the most basic kind of research about Buddhism or the Dalai Lama despite having had at least 3 full months to prepare. Due to his background as a travel filmmaker, perhaps he is used to oversimplifying complex subjects for easy digestion by a distraction-seeking audience. But when you are granted an audience with an extremely busy world figure and religious leader, you really should prepare properly. Shame on you, Rick Ray.
The resulting film is dull and superficial in the extreme, overflowing with random footage of people staring into the camera while the narrator drones on and on with his ill-informed hypothesizing about the human condition, full of platitudes about happy poor people and tales of feeling "close to heaven" inside a monastery.
And his 10 questions? Incredibly vague & simple minded stuff like "why do poor people seem to be happier than rich people?" and "how important is it to preserve tradition?" When speaking about Middle East tensions, the Dalai Lama says there is too much anger, hatred & negativity and that these high emotions need to first be "cooled down" before more constructive action can be taken on the serious issues facing them. He suggests (half jokingly) that festivals & picnics would be a good way of achieving this *first* step. The narration immediately proclaims: "so festivals were the answer to peace in the middle east". I cannot describe my utter disbelief when I heard that. I wanted to yell at my screen "THAT'S NOT WHAT HE SAID AT ALL!!" Not only has he done no research, but he apparently didn't pay any attention to the interview itself - either at the time or while editing.
Time and again, he seemed intent on squeezing the Dalai Lama into a preconceived box he's made for him. At one point, Rick Ray drones: "it might come as a surprise to learn that although he PROSCRIBES festivals as the answer for peace around the world, he personally dislikes them, especially when they're in his honor." In addition to repeating his obvious misinterpretation about festivals, no one who knows anything about the Dalai Lama would have been surprised by that - it's perfectly in line with his humility as someone who routinely describes himself as an ordinary person from a small town. As I continued watching the film, I got the distinct impression that Rick Ray was treating his subject almost as an idiot savant, wasting his time with ridiculously simple questions and offering to re-interpret the answers for the audience (and totally misinterpret it in the process).
To add to all this, the filmmaker has inserted himself into this film far too much. For example, he worries out loud about not wasting the precious 45 minutes he's been allowed for the interview and that if the Dalai Lama were to cut it short (because he's been known to do that if he senses you're a disingenuous fool), it would be the most humiliating experience of his life. I say "who cares?" He should have just spent his time PREPARING for the interview instead of narcissistically recording HIMSELF worrying about it out loud. This is not a documentary but an ill-informed, self-absorbed, not at all ready for prime time, grade school-level personal diary that should have been uploaded directly to YouTube. At best.
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a beautiful and moving motion picture
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-10-22
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
10 Questions For The Dalai Lama fascinated me from the very beginning; I had until now little knowledge of the history of Tibet and this DVD about their spiritual leader who is also their head of state in exile will hold your attention, too! The film flows very nicely; Rick Ray really put this together rather well and the footage shows India close to where the Dalai Lama and his followers live; excellent archival footage of the Communist Chinese forces overtaking Tibet and killing tens of thousands of people and the footage of Rick's interview with the Dalai Lama himself is more than worth the price of admission alone! The cinematography is terrific, too.
The film starts with director/writer Rick Ray narrating as we watch him doing a film project for next-to-nothing in India in order to get an interview with the Dalai Lama. However, when Rick gets to India he soon discovers that the promise of such an interview was bogus and he's on his own if he wishes to meet this spiritual, political leader and sage. Fortunately for Rick, his guide tells him that the Dalai Lama has his monks reading email on the Internet; and eventually Rick lands an interview with the Dalai Lama himself. Rick is nervous, however; he has heard that if the Dalai Lama does not consider you to be sincerely interested in a meaningful conversation he will simply dismiss you. Rick also faces tough time constraints--he has only 45 minutes and he is limited to asking the Dalai Lama only 10 questions.
This film also shows the history of the Dalai Lama and his predecessors who were all picked with great care; and we see terrific footage of the current Dalai Lama trying so hard to be nice to the Chinese when he first had power as the leader of Tibet. We also see graphic footage of how the Chinese overran Tibet; and these atrocities committed by the Chinese are not easy to swallow. The Dalai Lama had to put his boyhood behind him; and he even had to flee in disguise to make it out safely without being captured by Chinese forces. Many Tibetans who escaped the brutality of Chinese forces also fled and followed their leader to the town of Dharamsala in Northern India where the government of India provides them with a place to live.
Then comes the big interview--what will Rick ask the Dalai Lama? Be prepared to see Rick gain incredibly meaningful and wonderful insight from this exceptionally thoughtful man who is actually put on the spot when one unanticipated question from Rick comes up and needs a good answer. It's a terrific interview to say the least.
The DVD comes with an interview with director/writer Rick Ray, an interview with the man who is the personal secretary to the Dalai Lama and additional scenes not in the final cut of the movie. These are excellent features.
This documentary which also features a unique, up close and personal look at the Dalai Lama was made with care and compassion for him and his people. I highly recommend this film for people studying the Dalai Lama; the importance of a free Tibet and other issues related to the Tibetan people.
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Retail Price: $24.95
Amazon.com's Price:$3.19
That's 87% Off!
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