Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Ghoulumbe Better than most people think

Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

Michael Day To what degree do we have a duty to society at large? This is one of many questions that are likely to stir in your mind when reflecting on this film. What more could you ask of a documentary except that it expand your knowledge of the world and make you think more about what you already knew and what it means, all while showing you inspiring footage of some of the most dramatic landscapes our planet has to offer?Simply told, cleanly edited, with little cinematic analysis and no pedantic voice-over Unmistaken Child presents a fascinating view into Tibetan Buddhism very worth seeing.And unless you have a trip to Nepal or Tibet scheduled for the near future, see it on the largest screen possible. The dramatic landscape plays a very strong supporting role to the true dramatis personae - the culture nurtured in its valleys beneath the roof of the world - and the social reality that unfolds in this unique region.

MHeying777-1 Before watching this this well-made documentary I had been interested in Buddhism, but now have lost all respect for the Tibetan form.The film follows a Buddhist priest from village to village and he inquires about likely candidates, examines and tests, looking for "special" traits, until finally he selects one who is clearly advanced in comparison with the others, bright-eyed and intelligent--a precocious toddler whose parents are clearly distressed, as is the child, when he is finally removed from his loving parents to be raised by monks.Any belief system that promotes the taking of children from perfectly good families is utter barbarism. Such cruelty cannot be defended nor condoned on any level except domination and mind control. How better to subjugate a people than to take the best and brightest of their children and brainwash the public into believing this is for some divine purpose. Such a practice is repugnant to the extreme.The child's selections of beads and trinkets is proof of nothing but a precocious ability to read queues from the facial expressions and body language of those surrounding him. It was theater staged to subjugate the gullible.

John Kirk ***SPOILERS AHOY!*** Writing as a practising Buddhist, I saw this gem on TV late one night (it was actually shown on BBC4 as 'The Baby and The Buddha', so watch out for it). Other reviews commend the beauty and emotion of the film, the breath-taking landscapes, and while these are all indeed true, it was the 'affirmation' that touched me most. Let me explain what I mean... Firstly let me apologise for putting such a heavy Buddhist slant on this; I'm hoping there are like-minded people out there who can appreciate what I'm about to say! If not and you're just curious, thanks for looking! OK, here we go.... Watching the child react to being given the Rosary Beads that were his in the previous life, and how he puts them around his neck and won't be parted from them; his reaction to the finger drums, the bells etc of that earlier life; how he shows an unshakable confidence and authority when granting blessings to his disciples, and so on. I found this to be very jarring to watch, and it has been an enormous inspiration to my Dharma practise (following the Buddhist Path). Us 'Westerners' have and will always struggle with the Buddhist belief of Rebirth, and the conditions that naturally arise from this (such as the existence of the 6 Realms, Mother- Beings, etc), but this superb film spells out to us that these aren't just mystical traditions, but ACTUAL occurrences. What better proof do our inquisitive and questioning minds need? Think about it. If you watch the film with a sincere heart, you will become convinced that the child is indeed the Buddhist Geshe reborn, or a 'Rinpoche'. Therefore, rebirth at the end of this life will definitely happen for us all, and it follows that it HAS happened to us countless times before. My Wife struggles with a lot of these concepts, but now I have actual proof to wave under her nose! It's up to us 'Westerners' to suspend our disbelief, and embrace this seemingly far-fetched idea as actual fact. That is why I feel that this film is so important. In the film, Geshe-La was reborn in a Human form because of his life-long devotion to the Three Jewels; if we follow the example ourselves and practise Dharma purely and sincerely (as lay-persons like me, not necessarily as fully ordained Monks) then we will surely be reborn in the Human Realm, and have the precious opportunity to continue our Dharma practises. So, that's what I meant when I said that I found the film to be 'affirming'. It strengthens one's faith in the Buddhist belief of Rebirth, which then inspires one's study of Dharma, and in taking Refuge in the Three Jewels. Amazing stuff. Every Buddhist should own a copy. Go to Amazon and click the buy button RIGHT NOW!!!! lol Thanks for reading :-)

Howard Schumann In a year when films that glorify sadistic revenge fantasies and psychopathic violence against women are celebrated, Israeli director Nati Baratz's documentary Unmistaken Child is a tribute to a director and a young Buddhist monk who are willing to share with the world a journey of love. The film concerns twenty-eight year old Tenzin Zopa, a Buddhist monk who left his family at the age of seven to become a disciple of a Tibetan Buddhist master, who then takes on the responsibility of searching for his master's reincarnation when he dies at the age of 84 in 2001. Though Tenzin is devastated when he loses his teacher, Lama Konchog, and feels inadequate to the task ahead, he agrees to search for his master's reincarnation out of a sense of duty to pass on his master's wisdom to the world.After a senior monk with an astrological gift determines that the child was born in the Tsum Valley of Nepal, and that the boy's father's name begins with "A, Tenzin sets out on foot on a four-year journey to seek the "unmistaken child", not knowing if he will be successful. Accompanied by Baratz and his camera and with permission from the Lama Zopa Rinpoche, he visits villages in the same area in which he grew up, inquiring as to whether families with a child of age one to one and a half years lives in the village. He interviews children, parents, and grandparents, asking many questions and testing each child to try to find out if the young child is unusually attracted to the master's rosary beads.When he travels to Chekampor Village which was his place of birth, he meets relatives including an aunt who tells him that there may be such a child in the next village whose father's name, is Ahpe. En route to meet this boy, Tenzin comes across Genshe-La's retreat where he first met his spiritual teacher at the age of seven. Saddened by the dilapidated condition of the retreat, Tenzin sheds tears but his spirits are buoyed by the sight of the child who waters the same apple tree daily that was planted many years ago by Konchong and clings to the rosary beads. In a moment that is pure magic, the little boy is brought to a monastery where he is able to identify personal items such as a hand bell and drum that were used by Kongchong.The most intriguing part of the film, however, is the unfolding of the relationship between Tenzin Zopa culminating with their meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is the only one who can determine whether or not the boy will be accepted as the reincarnation of Lama Konchong. This test is just preliminary however to the crucial meeting between the boy and his parents and it is a test that both Tenzin and the family face with bravery and good humor. Shot in the villages and countryside of Nepal, Unmistaken Child is a film of unexcelled beauty, both physical and spiritual that left me with a glow that lasted for days.