Zen

2009 [JAPANESE]

Action / Biography / Drama

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 86%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 86% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 1243 1.2K

buddhism zen dogen 13th century japanese film kamakura period

Plot summary

In the early 1200s, Dogen brought Chinese Zen philosophy to Japan, and established the Japanese Zen school of Buddhism. He taught that a person was capable of realizing Buddhahood within himself, by way of Zazen. Zazen is extended hours of sitting and meditating to achieve a state of “Mu” (nothingness, or empty existence).

Director

Banmei Takahashi Photo
Banmei Takahashi

Top cast

Shô Aikawa Photo
Shô Aikawa as Matsuzô
Yuki Uchida Photo
Yuki Uchida as Orin
Kengo Kôra Photo
Kengo Kôra as Shunryô
Keiko Takahashi Photo
Keiko Takahashi as Ishi
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.14 GB
1280*714
Japanese 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 7 min
Seeds 4
2.12 GB
1920*1072
Japanese 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 7 min
Seeds 6

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by tonosov-51238 6 / 10

Passages from enlightenment

Being partially a biopic that barely conveys anything about the person except the generalized platitudes he lived by and after his death, you can still understand by the end that expecting something grandiose from a movie about Zazen would be a contradiction to the whole concept. So it goes: a rough chronology of how he brought his knowledge from China to Japan, mixed with morality tales, with some being straight up from Buddha lore itself. As for actually understanding the advantages that the act of sitting and thinking about nothing and sipping boiled water brings to one's existence, well, no comfort here. Being poor, miserable, or disenfranchised in the 13th century could drive a person anywhere to seek purpose.The atmosphere is exceptional. You can really immerse yourself in Dogen's meditative perspective thanks to long contemplative scenes of essentially nothing but his surroundings. A lot of scenes of "unrealistic beauty" just add to how he sees the world on this path to enlightenment. The score is fantastic as well. Especially the ending track.The supporting characters exist solely to provide a layman's viewpoint and range from mildly interesting to bland. With some truly awful scenes of physical acting that significantly take away from immersion in the supposed drama the movie tries to showcase.
Reviewed by dbborroughs 7 / 10

good for those interested in the subject tedious for those not

Medatative story of a monk in search of enlightenment.Based upon a novel which is based upon the life of a monk named Dogen who left Japan and traveled to China. He returned to Japan bringing with him a form of Zen teaching.A good film that I think is going to be of interest to people with an interest in Zen and Buddhism. Others I think are going to be bored and wonder what its all about.If there are any real flaws its some of the visual motifs-the moon for example are used a bit too much.If you're interested in the subject give it a go.
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