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Unmistaken Child

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Israel · 2009
Rated PG · 1h 42m
Director Nati Baratz
Starring Tenzin Zopa
Genre Documentary

In Nepal, a venerable monk, Geshe Lama Konchog, dies, and one of his disciples, a youthful monk named Tenzin Zopa, searches for his master's reincarnation. The documentary follows his search to the Tsum Valley where he finds a young boy of the right age who uncannily responds to Konchog's possessions. Is this his master’s reincarnation?

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What are critics saying?

70

Washington Post by

Unmistaken Child: adorable, moving, bewildering, sad and, ultimately, peaceful.

90

Salon by Andrew O'Hehir

Unmistaken Child stands above most others in offering us an intimate look at Tibetan Buddhism in action, with no external commentary or narration.

70

Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern

Seldom has a film presented such a richly ambiguous juxtaposition of modernity (among the toys showered on the boy is a really cool radio-controlled helicopter), ancient mindset and, to be sure, possible miraculousness.

50

Film Threat by Phil Hall

Although the film is handsomely filmed and features a surprisingly frank view of the political machinations within the upper ranks of Tibetan Buddhism – even the Dalai Lama comes across as a bit of a wheeler-dealer – Unmistaken Child is more than a little disappointing.

75

The A.V. Club by Scott Tobias

Baratz’s apparent willingness to accept everything at face value papers over some of the more troubling aspects of Tenzin’s mission, but Unmistaken Child allows the mysteries of the process to be preserved without judgment.

50

The New York Times by Stephen Holden

The beauty of the landscape and the monk’s sweetness, humility and good humor evoke a plane of existence, at once elevated and austere, that is humbling to contemplate. That said, Unmistaken Child offers no scholarly perspective on Tibetan Buddhism and leaves fundamental questions unanswered.

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