A Little Wisdom
North American Premiere, SXSW – Alamo Ritz, March 10, 2018
Review by Stacey Lovett
The monastic life is often both thought of and portrayed as one of austerity and self-discipline – to any five year old this structure doesn’t come naturally. Young Hopakuli and his brother Chorten strengthen their bond as they are orphaned into Tibetan Buddhist monastic structure and director, Yuki Kang, captures the real essence of their childhood experiences, humanizing this ordained community, in A Little Wisdom.
The documentary’s focus lies in the experiences of these young boys and how Kang’s portrayal of their relationships presents a normalcy to a life otherwise romanticized in film and culture. Having lived among and studied the novice monks for a year prior to filming, she acquired her own mindfulness to the daily lives of the boys and captures these interactions in a contemplative manner. The viewer becomes familiarized with the characters through a child’s eye as their awareness of life often innately surpasses that of an adult. To enter this life immaturely comes with both benefits and consequences. The boys learn through their appliance of self-led experience in a parentless environment nurturing their own and each other’s awakening. As the religious structure is presented to them in their teachings at the monastery, they’re left to practice their own philosophical development alongside it. This freedom of attainment, however, doesn’t come without restraint – they are essentially trapped between two worlds – that of youthful freedoms and that of nurturing uncertainty.
The essence of enlightenment is brought to light in this plight as it, at its core, is a destructive process; one must eradicate all pretenses to be able to truly see the light. Without outside influence, one is led to see inside. Kang chooses to film much of it without dialogue, instead of backing contemplative imagery with a meditative soundtrack. This leads the viewer to pay attention to their own experience of their senses and take a deeper look inside with their thoughts and emotions to challenge the outside view of the inside of a Buddhist training facility. The bulk of this film’s action depicts boyhood antics among the group bringing out the playful scenes that occur outside their religious schooling; the boys are shown climbing trees, fighting, watching occasional cartoons, and even experimenting with foul language. This both humanizes these potential religious servants and brings an awareness to their immaturity and what power is ultimately being imparted to them. The imagery depicts bold, rich colors while weaving in darker scenes that evoke the loneliness and longing that accompanies their orphaned status. It is the strength in these relationships and interactions that Kang places focus on in the film as they are arguably more formative to the boys than the religious teachings they receive. There is a void of the depth of the religious teachings portrayed as well as the purity associated with enlightenment; this challenges the view of this monastic life within the Buddhist community and questions the true values of life’s instruction.
Hopakuli and Chorten become Kang’s vehicles of insight of this realm for it were through their eyes that she witnessed their world and her portrayal of it in their point of view challenges preconceived notions and opens up a more valid assessment of the life behind the structure. It’s through them that she can impart to us a little wisdom.