'Kundun'

It's a pretty film, but I don't think it's very good.

If you make a film like this, you are trying to say something whether you actually say anything. At the time, the Dalai Lama and the rest of Tibet were flys in a world filled with giant gorillas. If a gorilla goes into an emotional tantrum and the fly happens to get squashed, then so be it.

The difference is that no one would notice a fly getting squashed by an angry gorilla, but plenty noticed China waltzing into Tibet and taking over. However, Tibet isn't the first country to get shafted and they won't be the last. It doesn't make it right. It just makes it normal.

Furthermore, do we care if Tibet is taken over by Nepal or even India? Probably not, honestly. China's higher profile. They're the bullies not unlike England, the United States or (formerly) Russia. I guess I don't need my viewpoint on world politics set and updated by the Beastie Boys or Martin Scorcese.

Even if China has zero right to be in Tibet, it doesn't make the Dalia Lama interesting.