“Seven Years in Tibet” remains one of the greatest nonfiction books I have read, a magical and muscular adventure story about a lost place and time. Heinrich Harrer crafted a lyric tale of breaking into Tibet’s closed monastic society from the towering mountains above and befriending a young Dalai Lama eager to learn about the West.
The Brad Pitt movie based on the book is eminently forgettable, but a recent documentary recaptures some of the magic and mystery of Tibet’s Buddhist culture. “Unmistaken Child” is a quietly engrossing journey into human faith and discovery.
Nati Baratz’s film centers on the key Buddhist concept of reincarnation. Tibet’s monks believe that when important higher lamas die, their souls may be reborn in young children from surrounding villages. At the beginning of “Unmistaken Child,” the high lama Geshe Lama Konchog dies at 84, devastating his young assistant, Tenzin Zopa.
Zopa’s superiors ask him to journey through Tibet in search of Lama Konchog’s reincarnation, and the dutiful, almost painfully sincere monk happily takes up the assignment. He hikes high and low through misty Tibetan crags and valleys, asking villagers for a visit with any 18-month-old children who might capture his old master’s spirit.
The Tibetans have tests for the potential new lamas, but even if Tenzin Zopa finds the child, its family must agree to give up the toddler for a life far away in a monastery. The tensions seem somehow ancient and universal. Throughout, Tenzin Zopa is the gentlest and kindest of uncles to every child, and we root for his success and satisfaction.
“Unmistaken Child” is a geographic, cultural and spiritual travelogue for your older children. Make it a family break on a cold winter’s night.
Rated: Not rated in U.S., given a “G” by most nations; nothing objectionable, but the story is a mature one.
Best suited for: Teenagers and parents fascinated by alternative religions, culture and exotic travel.
