I don't know if this movie could be made like this nowadays. I had forgotten about the movie alltogether but even more so that Keanu Reeves was in it. And in a role that many nowadays would call culturally inappropriate. Now I am not saying I belong to one of those people, I was still surprised to see him play the character he did. He also did a decent job by the way. Even if at times the "Whoa Dude" seemed to shine through (especially when he realized certain things) - well he can't help himself.

That aside the movie moves along nicely but also in a slow pace. I am not sure if those already in the know when it comes to Buddhism will enjoy this - or if those not into it will enjoy it at all. You should not be totally against it, that is for sure. Or even hate it (though I wouldn't know why that would be the case). A nice overall movie/drama, with some really good performances and some insight into a religion and beliefs you may not have been aware of before ... not to that degree at least.

"Little Buddha" is sort of a hard movie to classify. True, it's the story of a man (Ruocheng Ying) bringing several children to Bhutan, believing one of them to be the reincarnation of Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves). There's certainly an interesting contrast between the modern world of Seattle (where one of the children lives),and the ancient world that Siddhartha inhabited. For me though, the most interesting scene was when Siddhartha got enraged and saw the armies marching towards him (I think that that was what happened; it was a little unclear).

I agree with a previous reviewer that the movie would have been a little better had there been more focus on Siddhartha; the whole thing about him getting reincarnated made it kinda hard for me to determine what to really make of the movie. But either way, this is a pretty imaginative movie with very impressive cinematography. I've never seen any of Bernardo Bertolucci's other movies, but if this is any indication, his others must be worth seeing. Also starring Bridget Fonda as the mother of the Seattle boy.

By the way, IMDb listed Liechtenstein as one of the countries behind "Little Buddha". So Liechtenstein really puts up money for movies?

I can't understand everyone that goes on in this film, but I have got the basic plot. Lama Norbu (Ven. Geshe Tsultim Gyelsen) comes to Seattle in search of the reincarnation of his dead teacher, Lama Dorje (Ruocheng Ying). He eventually finds young Jesse Conrad (Alex Wiesendanger),Raju (Raju Lal),a waif from Kathmandu, and an upper class Indian girl. They journey to Bhutan where the three children must take a test to prove which is the true reincarnation. In amongst the film is the story of Siddharta (Keanu Reeves),later known as the Buddha. It traces his spiritual journey from ignorance to true enlightenment. Also starring Chris Isaak as Dean Conrad and Jackie Brown's Bridget Fonda as Lisa Conrad. A bit of a weird film for Reeves to be in, but an interesting film drama with Indian religious themes and based on a true story. Good!