The Color Trilogy of Little Buddha
In movies, directors will use any device to convey their message. They may use lighting, dialogue, costumes, certain styles of cinematography, or setting choices to guide the audience in a certain direction to understand the meaning behind the film. Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha is a good example of where a director used color symbolism to convey a message to the audience. Bertolucci uses color in every aspect of the film to foreshadow the events that happen later in the movie. This foreshadowing allows the audience to understand the message in a clearer way. Bertolucci's message is that in today's society, the self and the other must become one. If this is reached, than each individual in that society will become enlightened in there own way and thus lead to a better society and a greater sense of humanity. The film Little Buddha is a film that uses the Tibetan Buddhist monks to be the conveyers of the message. The monks are in search of Lama Dorje, who was a great teacher in the Buddhist religion. They believe that the reincarnation of their late Lama, might be a western boy, Jesse. Since Jesse, his family, and the western audience are unfamiliar with the story of Prince S
Raju, the boy from Katmandu is the first child that is introduced besides Jesse. He is surrounded by the color red. Katmandu is red, the boy's skin is a reddish brown, and his clothes have primarily a reddish tint. Raju is a representative of the other in society. He is different from Jesse, in that he comes from another culture and has a different set of beliefs. However, he is closer to Jesse than the third child. Raju symbolizes the other in society that is similar to the self, but a little different. This is shown in the movie by the scene in which the gameboy, a device associated with the western child, is played. Bertolucci uses the three colors to symbolize a few things, but most importantly they symbolize life. Life is full of color and for a human to see the truth of life, they must see all the colors. Not just the colors of Seattle, Katmandu, or India, but the colors of the world, the colors of the earth, the air and the water. The colors of the people must be seen too. Colors are symbols of differences. Differences between the self and the other. Bertolucci uses the color symbolism to show that an individual, a society and the world must see the truth of this world in order for there to be peace, compassion, and happiness. iddhartha and the Buddhist religion, Bertolucci's uses the monks to tell the story and give hints to the final message of the film. Then the audience finds out there is two more candidates for the reincarnation, so Bertolucci sends Jesse and his father, Dean, along with the monks to interview the other children. Through the process of the interviews and traveling, the rest of the story of Siddhartha is told and the children have all become friends and almost one person. The film ends in Bhutan where the children are told who is the reincarnation of Lama Dorje, and where the final message is conveyed to the father, the three childre
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1277
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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