Unmistaken Child
Dir. Nati Baratz
Rating: 3.0
Oscilloscope Laboratories
102 Minutes
In 2001, Geshe Lama Konchog passed away. Although the name might not be a household one like the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, he was a world-renowned Buddhist figure, revered and beloved. For 26 years he lived in isolated meditation and upon his death, was hoped to have been reincarnated by many. The documentary film Unmistaken Child follows his closest disciple on a years-long journey to find the infant that is somehow also his oldest friend and spiritual leader.
Despite the title, it is the disciple, Tenzin Zopa, who carries the film; by turns somber, frustrated, self-effacing and ebullient, the monk carries himself with a humility that belies his status as one of Mahayana Buddhism's leaders and a renowned figure in his own right. From the opening scenes of the Lama Konchog's funeral rites and immolation, Tenzin Zopa is both tragically insecure and supremely self-assured. He is completely sure of the importance of his mission, but lost in a world where he must find the one who should be leading him.
Over the course of several years, Tenzin Zopa travels by airplane, automobile and foot through Tibet to find a child who will pass several arcane tests and an eventual official "recognition" by the Dalai Lama. His loneliness is always apparent: Israeli director Nati Baratz's nighttime frames of his face against a fire, sleeping outside in the valley where he was born, are heartbreaking. In a moving speech, he states that his whole life up to this search has been directed by his Lama, and laments his inability to discern a higher state of existence than his own. It's both beautiful and frustrating in its contradictions.
Nevertheless, Unmistaken Child is flawed. A whole fascinating world and tradition is largely ignored: an astrologer pronouncing the "95% accuracy" of his predictions, the post-funeral combing of the ashes for relics, the ritual shaving of the child's head could all carry a film by themselves. Unfortunately, such depth of detail is sacrificed for lengthy sequences of the eventual child behaving, well, pretty much like a child.
Unmistaken Child is a fascinating film, but feels very much like an incomplete one. Despite the incredible history and scope of the tradition it portrays, it's only a brief look into something ageless and ancient. Where it succeeds most is the humanity of the monks and the playfulness of children, perfectly capturing the devotion and love between souls over literal lifetimes. But must we sacrifice knowledge for emotion?
by Nathan Kamal