The Buddha Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Buddha Blu-ray Movie Review

If your only conception of nirvana is mid-90s grunge, this is the documentary for you.

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater July 27, 2010

For those of us in the uppercase West, even non-Christians, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus —as told in the Bible—is a well-known tale. Less familiar, though, is the story of Siddartha Gautama— better known as the Buddha—a luminary who lived in India some 500 years before Christ. In our general ignorance about Eastern philosophy and its origins, David Grubin, director of the 2-hour PBS special The Buddha, finds his documentary’s raison d’etre: “Buddhism is growing more and more popular in America,” he says, “but the Buddha himself remains a mysterious, exotic figure, the founder of a religion in a different key. The Buddha never claimed to be god or his emissary on Earth. He said only that in a world of unavoidable pain and suffering, he had found a serenity which others could find too. In our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion, the Buddha’s teachings have particular relevance.”

Narrated by Richard Gere—a long-professed Buddhist—The Buddha is basically a 101-style introduction to the titular figure’s life and teachings, with input from poets Jane Hirshfield and W.S. Merwin, scholars Robert Thurman, Kevin Trainor, and Dr. Max Moerman, psychiatrist Mark Epstein, and even a few inspiring words from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Told through “talking head” interviews, on-location footage from India, and even animated sequences to illustrate the more abstract events, the program takes us on a pilgrimage of sorts, with stops at holy sites that correspond to events in the Buddha’s life.

We start at Lumbini, in modern-day Nepal, where Siddhartha was born from the side of a queen who, in another variation on the virgin birth archetype, dreamt that she had been impregnated by a white elephant. A prophesy claimed that the boy would grow up to be either a great ruler or a great holy man, and Siddartha’s father, King Suddhodana—who was hell-bent on ensuring the former as the outcome—gave his son every imaginable pleasure, shielded him from religious teaching, and made sure he never noticed the suffering outside the palace walls. When the prince, at 29, finally left his palace and encountered the old, the sick, and the dead, he renounced materialism and tried to overcome suffering through an extremely impoverished life as an ascetic.

Eventually, though, he finds the “Middle Way,” a path between extreme indulgence and extreme self-mortification. Nearly starved, Siddhartha accepts some rice pudding and milk from a peasant girl, and this act of taking the food is essentially a choice towards a normal human life. And yet, this still doesn’t solve the problem of pain. Newly resolved, he sits beneath the Bhodi Tree in Bodh Gaya—the second stop on our tour—and meditates for 49 days, eventually attaining enlightenment, an awakened state born by the realization that ignorance is the cause of all suffering. “It’s not like entering a new state,” says Robert Thurman of the Buddha’s enlightenment, a mental transformation that’s open to all people. “It’s uncovering or surrendering to the reality that’s always been there. He realized that he’d always been in Nirvana, that Nirvana is always the case; your reality itself is Nirvana. It’s the unreality; it’s the ignorance that makes you think you’re this self-centered separate being trying to fight off an overwhelming universe and failing. You are that universe.”

Here, the documentary parses some of the Buddha’s teachings and stops to clarify a common misconception about Buddhism—the idea that the “goal” is the complete suppression of human desire. The real key is being aware of your desires and knowing exactly what and why they are. “Whenever we experience these emotions,” Jane Hirshfield says, “we get stuck in them. Buddhism is going inside them, realizing what they are, and getting through it.” The remainder of the program covers the Buddha’s status as a social revolutionary—his sangha convent was open to all castes and both genders—along with the details of his death and his lasting legacy.

Much of this will be old hat to veteran Buddhists, but The Buddha really isn’t for them. Anyone with a moderate understanding of the religion/philosophy will find little new to gleam here, as the real intent is to enlighten—ba dum ching—those who know next to nothing about Buddhist thought. And the film certainly serves that purpose. There is, however, a fine line between informing and outright proselytizing, and The Buddha often leans toward the latter, with some of the talking heads—poet Jane Hirshfield in particular—responding in a way that’s often more emotional than scholarly. There’s also a tendency to leave certain metaphors and parables unexplained and to oversimplify key tenants in the rush to fit a biography of the Buddha into a mere two hours. This is understandable to some extent, but the overall feeling is that The Buddha is the Cliffs Notes version of a more substantial mini-series documentary that’s yet to be made.

The Buddha Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shot on high definition digital video, The Buddha's 1080i/AVC encode—with a full-framed 1.78:1 aspect ratio—looks good, but not quite great on Blu-ray. Clarity during the "talking head" interview segments is generally strong—with fine detail apparent in facial features—and the on-location footage in India is mostly impressive as well, aside from some occasional softness. Color is strictly realistic—there have been no attempts at stylization here—and though there some blown highlights, saturation is strong and black levels are tight. The animated sequences, however, make the most impact, with crisp lines and bright colors. Scattered throughout the documentary are several archival shots that have been obviously upscaled from standard definition sources, and these exhibit the usual problems, like macroblocking and fuzzy, low-res lack of detail. There are also some noticeable compression issues within the otherwise high definition footage, with a few instances of aliasing and shimmer. Still, the overall appearance of The Buddha is pleasing, and definitely bests the heavily compressed look of a typical television broadcast.

The Buddha Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sure, some may say it's a shame that The Buddha only includes a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track, but in this case it would take a fine pair of ears to be able to tell the difference from a lossless mix. The documentary's audio is pretty much limited to on-location interviews, Richard Gere's solemn narration, and a score filled with regional instruments—like tabla and sitar—so there's really not much to say here other than, yep, everything is clear and coherent, with a modest sense of presence and more than adequate detail. This is a television mix, so dynamically it's somewhat flat, but otherwise I don't really have any complaints.

The Buddha Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Interview with David Grubin
The director—who is not a Buddhist himself, but admires the religion's hopefulness—explains his motivations for making the film and discusses the shooting process in India, the decision to use animation for certain parts of the story, and the ultimate "meaning" of the film.

Interview with His Holiness the Dalai Lama
In a brief interview, the Dalai Lama touches on some of the core concepts of Buddhism.

Making Animation for The Buddha
A short featurette that shows the creation of a single scene, from storyboards and animatics to pencil tests and final animation.

Buddhist Pilgrimage Sites
Additional footage from the four pilgrimage sites featured in the film.

Note: The special features are presented in 1080i, and come to 14:55 total.

The Buddha Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For complete newcomers, The Buddha offers an informative 101-style overview of the man, the myth, and the resultant religion/philosophy, but those who are already somewhat familiar with Buddhism would probably be better served by a more in-depth documentary. Still, the presence of Richard Gere, W.S. Merwin, and, yes, His Holiness himself, the Dalai Lama, definitely elevates the straight-forwardness of the material, making The Buddha a worthwhile watch even for those well-versed in Eastern philosophy.