Zen (2009)

This movie is made for people who are already familiar with the life of Dogen Zenji - it skips from event to event throughout his life with little exposition. As someone who watched this because I am interested in learning more about Buddhism and who had not heard of Dogen Zenji before, I was left disconnected from the story and did not take much away from it. I wasn't sure WHY anything was happening; it just did, and then we skipped ahead a few more years.

The positives were that the acting was solid, the music was nice, and the production had a pleasant slice-of-life approach (except for a few CGI missteps, as The Butterfly mentions in their review). The film covered some Buddhist teachings, but it didn't go as deep into them as I expected from a biopic about someone who introduced a new form of Buddhism to Japan.

Where this movie most offends me, however, and the reason that I rated it so low, is that the writer looked at the real life story of Dogen Zenji and thought, "You know what this story about a Buddhist master needs? Sex appeal!" And then they introduced one (1) female character, with no basis in history (I checked), only to show her having dubiously consensual sex and then later getting actually sexually assaulted. Obviously these scenes do not include or involve Dogen Zenji, so they're just there because the writer thought they spiced up the story. Thankfully, this female character does get her own arc and character development, but there was absolutely no reason to show those particular scenes, neither of which is addressed with the seriousness that breaches of sexual consent deserve. I'd rather have no added fictional female characters than have this kind of crass and traumatic representation. I came to this movie expecting to learn more about enlightenment and left with a sour taste in my mouth.

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Mind and body fall away

This 2009 film follows the spiritual quest and enlightenment of the Japanese Buddhist Dogen Zenj who brought Zen Buddhism to Japan in the 1200’s. I can only comment on this film as a non-Buddhist and one who hasn’t studied Zen Buddhism and the life of Dogen. My review is based on the artistic endeavor.

The film followed Dogen on his spiritual journey which took him from Japan to China to have his questions answered and in search of a true Buddhism. The scenery was spectacular as this lone man traveled in a foreign land. He found one master who was more concerned with politics and later, a sage who was a cook at a temple. All the main highlights were touched upon as he discovered Zen Buddhism, became enlightened, returned to Japan to share what he had learned and then inevitably ran up against the sect in power that didn’t like new ideas, and finally, the events ending in his death.

The performances were for the most part subdued as you would expect in a film about Buddhist monks. Nakamura Kantarou didn’t have much to do except look serene and introspective which he did well. Uchida Yuki brought a spark to the film as Orin, a prostitute, whose path led to Dogen which changed her life. Orin had the most obvious character development in the film which made it easier to be invested in her limited story. The monks practicing detachment also made it hard for this viewer to become emotionally attached to them.

The film suffered at times from choppy editing and storytelling. Characters appeared without any backstory to let us know who they were and time jumps happened without any warning. A segment involving headless ghosts and swarming CGI butterflies probably sounded better on paper than it looked and would have been best omitted. The moon played a large role (sometimes Earth destroying large!) and had to be interpreted symbolically. At times in a film grounded in realism, the supernatural CGI elements seemed out of place and didn’t really add anything.

To enjoy this film, it would help if you are interested in religious history or the life of Dogen. It is slow paced with many scenes of people sitting and meditating. I do enjoy these types of spiritual journey films, even at that, it could be plodding at times. Overall, I enjoyed it, and as a niche film could recommend it though I suspect the greater movie audience would not find it as interesting.

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