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Title: The Zen of "Unhelpful" Reviews
Review: Martin Scorcese goes Bertolucci with this painterly portrait of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan culture, but "The Last Emperor" this ain't. No, I didn't go in expecting "Raging Zen" or "Goodmonks". And yes, the frame is filled with visual splendor and Scorcese's mastery of cinematic composition and color is on full display, but somewhere along the way he forgot something called "an interesting narrative". The actual story of the Dalai Lama's struggle and exile IS in fact a fascinating tale, so this should have been a no-brainer. Using "non-actors" is always a gamble, and in this case an unfortunate decision. I think Scorcese got too hung up on his obvious reverence toward the subject, to the point of stifling his own creative license. What you end up with is a glorified TV documentary--pretty to look at, but ultimately a curiously detached exercise in tedium.
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