Wheel of Time (film)
Encyclopedia
Wheel of Time is a 2003
documentary film
by German director Werner Herzog
about Tibetan Buddhism
. The title refers to the Kalachakra sand mandala
that provides a recurring image for the film.
The film documents the two Kalachakra
initiations of 2002, presided over by the fourteenth Dalai Lama. The first, in Bodhgaya India, was disrupted by the Dalai Lama's illness. Later that same year, the event was held again, this time without disruption, in Graz
Austria
. The film's first location is the Bodhgaya, the site of the Mahabodhi Temple
and the Bodhi tree
. Herzog then turns to the pilgrimage
at Mount Kailash
. The film then focuses on the second gathering in Graz.
Herzog includes a personal interview with the Dalai Lama, as well as Tibetan former political prisoner Takna Jigme Zangpo
, who served 37 years in a Chinese
prison for his support of the International Tibet Independence Movement
.
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by German director Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
about Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
. The title refers to the Kalachakra sand mandala
Sand mandala
The Sand Mandala is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition involving the creation and destruction of mandalas made from colored sand...
that provides a recurring image for the film.
The film documents the two Kalachakra
Kalachakra
Kalachakra is a Sanskrit term used in Tantric Buddhism that literally means "time-wheel" or "time-cycles".The spelling Kalacakra is also correct....
initiations of 2002, presided over by the fourteenth Dalai Lama. The first, in Bodhgaya India, was disrupted by the Dalai Lama's illness. Later that same year, the event was held again, this time without disruption, in Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The film's first location is the Bodhgaya, the site of the Mahabodhi Temple
Mahabodhi Temple
The Mahabodhi Temple is a Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, the location where Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, attained enlightenment. Bodh Gaya is located about from Patna, Bihar state, India. Next to the temple, to its western side, is the holy Bodhi tree...
and the Bodhi tree
Bodhi tree
The Bodhi Tree, also known as Bo , was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree located in Bodh Gaya , under which Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha, is said to have achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi...
. Herzog then turns to the pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
at Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash is a peak in the Gangdisê Mountains, which are part of the Himalayas in Tibet...
. The film then focuses on the second gathering in Graz.
Herzog includes a personal interview with the Dalai Lama, as well as Tibetan former political prisoner Takna Jigme Zangpo
Takna Jigme Zangpo
Takna Jigme Zangpo or Takna Jigme Sangpo is the longest-serving political prisoner of Tibetan ethnicity, having spent 37 years in a prison near Lhasa. First imprisoned in 1964, he was released from prison on a medical parole on 31 March 2002 having reached the age of 76...
, who served 37 years in a Chinese
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
prison for his support of the International Tibet Independence Movement
International Tibet Independence Movement
The Tibetan independence movement is a movement for the independence of the lands where Tibetan people live and the political separation of those lands from the People's Republic of China. It is principally led by the Tibetan diaspora in countries like India and the United States, and by...
.