In Search of Kundun (Kino Lorber)
Martin Scorsese hasn’t forgotten a single film he saw while growing up. In In Search of Kundun, he recalls Storm Over Tibet (1952), which combined Hollywood exotica with documentary footage. Still, the man behind Mean Streets didn’t begin to think about filming the childhood of the 14th Dalai Lama until he made The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Reflecting on the murderous characters that inhabit most of his movies, he says, “It takes guts to do things non-violently”—whether Jesus or the spiritual leader who resolutely refuses to take up arms against Tibet’s oppressors.
According to screenwriter Melissa Mathison, the idea for Scorsese’s Dalai Lama film, Kundun (1997), was hers. Not surprisingly, Hollywood balked at Scorsese as the director but he supported the idea. Michael Henry Wilson’s documentary includes footage of Kundun’s shoot (in Morocco), Scorsese on telling stories visually and the Dalai Lama addressing the values of compassion and kindness.
The Times of Bill Cunningham (Kino Lorber)
Bill Cunningham (1929-2016) came to NYC in the 1940s to work in the fashion industry. He made hats but eventually made history with his popular Sunday New York Times photo essay, “On the Street.” He tooled around on a bike, snapping pictures. Much of director Mark Bozek’s documentary is drawn from a 1994 interview; the ebullient Cunningham gladly chronicled his story and explained how Manhattan street corners became a more interesting subject than Fashion Week runways.
