Thursday, 15 January 1998

PLEA FOR KUNDUN

This is my plea to Academy members. Don't let the critics fool you. If you want to vote for the one truly epic love story of 1997, vote for Kundun, the story of a man who loves in the hardest way possible -- unconditionally. It's a big bite, but Kundun delivers. It wears its true heart on its sleeve, leaving it vulnerable to attack, but somehow safe by way of that very vulnerability. In a year of great filmic cynicism, no movie speaks to what's right about the human heart nearly as well.

The film is opening wide this week, but many of you may not have even heard about it. And it isn't winning any of these awards you keep reading about. Why? Some insiders say Disney doesn't want to push the film too hard, fearful of reprisals from China. Perhaps. I blame the critical community, too wrapped up in the flow of big movie after big movie to take the time to let this artwork flow over them instead of analyzing story points. Kundun has no movie stars. It doesn't have the overt majesty of an acting legend like Peter O'Toole. It isn't snappy.

This is a movie of grace and calm. At one pivotal moment, the Dalai Lama says, "They took away our silence." If you can find peace in silence, you'll feel in that moment the pain that was so powerful in the eyes of Djimon Hunsou in the otherwise forgettable Amistad, the anguish of the people going down with the Titanic, and the hopelessness in Matt Damon's heart in Good Will Hunting. All in one. See this film. See it in a theater, where you can become a part of the experience. Leave your watch and your cynicism at home. And open your heart.

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And check out a brand new The Whole Picture.