IN THE NAME OF BUDDHA

Sri Lanka, 2002, 147 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Rajesh Touchriver.

We don't have the opportunity to see many (or any) films from Sri Lanka, so In the Name of Buddha is a good opportunity. While the film is made for a local audience and uses many of the dramatic and melodramatic styles that are geared to the sensibilities of audiences from the sub-continent, it is also Western-audience friendly.

On its release in Sri Lanka in early 2003, many Buddhists objected to it and other religious groups (including the Catholic Church) protested in solidarity. It was claimed that the film says that Buddhists were responsible for the long civil war. Looked at from this vantage point, this does not seem to be the point of the film at all. In fact, there is a plea for non-violence with reference to both Buddha and Gandhi.

The film is a vivid presentation of the war with some particularly grim sequences which include torture, shooting battles, bombings, brutal rapes and the destruction of a Catholic church during Mass. The point of view of the film-makers is distinctively Tamil and is highly critical of the Sinhalese military and of the Indian Peacekeeping Force which was ineffectual (with some soldiers indulging in atrocities) during the mid-80s. But it is also critical of many Tamil strategies. The violence over two decades took its toll of thousands of Sri Lankans.

The story focusses on an asylum seeker arriving at Heathrow in 1993 and recounting his story to an immigration official. This makes the film relevant to current discussions about intake of asylum seekers. It visualises the dangers they have lived through, war, families destroyed, life ambitions frustrated, military atrocities. The film is not as polished as products from big-budget studios, but it is earnest, grim, emotionally demanding as well as raising political and social issues.