The Buddha

This is a well-designed and paced documentary on the life of the Buddha (I have read a few and this is a great synopsis.) It is presented through soundbites from artists, poets, monks, and others. We also get the stories augmented with drawings or watercolors. The narration is by Richard Gere. This is a short review but it is not easy to include the details of the presentation without giving a presentation. Besides the different insights into Buddhism, the thing that I took away was the different locations where Buda was born, died, and received enlightenment.

I only saw the Blu-ray version so I cannot compare. However, there is a small documentary on the making of the documentary. You will need to rewatch the presentation as it is packed with information and ideas that do not give you too much time to think in-between.

I was glad to watch this documentary about the life of Lord Buddha. It gives a good introduction. However, the focus is given to later developed Mahayana Tradition instead of authentic Theravada Buddhism. Some useful content is omitted. But overall it gives a good idea about Buddhism. If you want deep details read "In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon" by Bhikkhu Bodhi.

You may not be surprised when you learn that Buddhist actor Richard Gere is the narrator that this is not an entirely neutral documentary. For me that lessened my enjoyment somewhat, but the repetitions are the biggest flaw.

It starts of well. We learn about the stories of Buddha's early life and what is taught about his path to become the Buddha. Whether they impress you or not they are tales of a flawed man searching for meaning and are all about searching within up until the point when he "finds himself" - then you get a load of religious mojo or perhaps it should just be seen as allegory but it is told without any indication it should be taken allegorically.

Once we have reached the point when he is supposedly the Buddha it becomes propaganda - and not compelling propaganda. I am an atheist, so it is possible that people who are believers will see this differently but I think they will agree that the second half has little insight to offer that the first half didn't cover except some miracles that are very contradictory with the earlier part of the Buddhas teachings and feel like things that the religious added later to compete with other religious claims.

After watching I still think that Buddha - if he existed - was a man who tried to help people live in the moment but who's teachings have been usurped by a religion that has distorted and embellished so much that we can not know anything about who the man may ever have been.

If you know little of Buddhism this is still an OK primer that is worth watching - if you do know the basics about Siddhartha Gautama I would recommend you look elsewhere for further enlightenment on the subject.

I found this documentary very instructive. I saw it on PBS, which is very well known for its high quality documentaries. And this one just follows that tradition. Buddhism is a beautiful religion/philosophy and was portrayed in the documentary in a simple and easy to understand manner. The music adequately accompanies the narration and the beautiful animations.

The Buddha's story is very touching and reflects the endless quest of humanity for peace. Peace starts with one's self, to be able to reflect it on the outside world.

Personnaly, it opened my eyes and heart at life. Will definitely meditate more often now. Highly recommended.

This documentary was quite light on information and expertise - one of the main speakers had a byline that just said 'poet' - but I guess this is meant as a first introduction to Buddhism so that is understandable.

On the other hand, the visual background consists of beautiful art and well chosen images that made this an enjoyable watch even if the viewer doesn't learn very much.