A case of culture shock comes upon an affluent Seattle family.  Lisa Conrad, a school teacher (Bridgett Fonda) and her son Jesse (Alex Wiesendanger) are approached by several Tibetan Buddhist monks who suspect that Jesse is the reincarnation of a deceased lama.  Mrs. Conrad is cooperative, in a bemused way, but Dean Conrad, Jesse's father (Chris Isaak), has no tolerance for the monks.  Then he has a personal crisis, and he decides to accompany Jesse and the monks to Nepal for a test to determine whether Jesse is the real reincarnation.  In the meantime, the monks tell Jesse the story of the Buddha.

Artistically, this film is not a complete success.  Director Bernardo Bertolucci contrasts an opulent but sterile life in Seattle with the poor but lively India, but the point of the comparison is not made clear.  Bridgette Fonda's character is a sympathetic figure in the beginning of the movie, but she doesn't go to India and thus disappears from the second part of the film.

The most interesting part of the film from a humanist perspective is the story of Prince Siddhartha, who became the Buddha, as told by the monks.  Siddhartha (well-played by Keanu Reeves) begins life as a pampered prince being groomed and sheltered by his father to be successor as king.  Then on a trip to the city, he sees examples of old age, disease, and death for the first time.  He is so troubled by these sights that he is inspired to give up the kingdom, leave his wife and baby, and take up a life of solitary contemplation.  He begins with a fundamental question, "Why is there suffering in the world?"  A rational humanist might address this question by trying to reduce suffering by improving the world.  Siddhartha, following the Indian tradition, takes up a very different approach of contemplation and meditation in order to understand the nature of suffering in the mind and to find the best way of life to deal with it.  He realizes in his enlightenment that the best approach is the middle way, the path between all extremes.  

The story of the Buddha is so rarely told in Western film that it makes the movie worthwhile as a gentle introduction to the origin of Buddhist thought.  However, part of the reason the story is seldom seen may be that the climax of the Buddha's enlightenment takes place while he is sitting quietly under a tree, which is not very dramatic.  The film adds some special effects miracles for those with short attention spans.  The miracles are shown from the perspective of children, implying that they should be seen as symbolic or mythic rather than literal.  The film also emphasizes reincarnation in the modern part of the story, which is important in Tibetan Buddhism but which wasn't a key teaching of the Buddha himself.  However, a skeptic may be bothered by these mystical elements.  The film is rated PG and is available on video.

Another recent film with Buddhist themes is Oliver Stone's Heaven & Earth.  This movie (rated R) is the story of a Vietnamese woman, who is a Buddhist, who survives the violence of war, marries an American serviceman, and moves to California.  The film shows the cultural contrast between the poor Vietnamese way of life and the luxuries in America.  It also touches on the Buddhist approach to life as she copes with the crises in her life.