Siddhartha

Plot synopsis:
The story takes place in the Nepalese district of Kapilvastu. Siddhartha decides to leave behind his home in the hope of gaining spiritual illumination by becoming an ascetic wandering beggar of the Shramanas. Joined by his best friend, Govinda, Siddhartha fasts, becomes homeless, renounces all personal possessions, and intensely meditates, eventually seeking and personally speaking with Gautama, the famous Buddha, or Enlightened One. Afterward, both Siddhartha and Govinda acknowledge the elegance of the Buddha's teachings. Although Govinda hastily joins the Buddha's order, Siddhartha does not follow, claiming that the Buddha's philosophy, though supremely wise, does not account for the necessarily distinct experiences of each person. He argues that the individual seeks an absolutely unique, personal meaning that cannot be presented to him by a teacher. He thus resolves to carry on his quest alone.
Siddhartha crosses a river and the generous ferryman, whom Siddhartha is unable to pay, merrily predicts that Siddhartha will return to the river later to compensate him in some way. Venturing onward toward city life, Siddhartha discovers Kamala, the most beautiful woman he has yet seen. Kamala, a courtesan, notes Siddhartha's handsome appearance and fast wit, telling him that he must become wealthy to win her affections so that she may teach him the art of love. Although Siddhartha despised materialistic pursuits as a Shramana, he agrees now to Kamala's suggestions. She directs him to the employ of Kamaswami, a local businessman, and insists that he have Kamaswami treat him as an equal rather than an underling. Siddhartha easily succeeds, providing a voice of patience and tranquility, which Siddhartha learned from his days as an ascetic, against Kamaswami's fits of passion. Thus Siddhartha becomes a rich man and Kamala's lover, though in his middle years he realizes that the luxurious lifestyle he has chosen is merely a game that lacks spiritual fulfillment. Leaving the fast-paced bustle of the city, Siddhartha returns to the river and thinks of killing himself. He is saved only by an internal experience of the holy word, Om. The very next morning, Siddhartha briefly reconnects with Govinda, who is passing through the area as a wandering Buddhist.
Siddhartha decides to live the rest of his life in the presence of the spiritually inspirational river. Siddhartha thus reunites with the ferryman, named Vasudeva, with whom he begins a humbler way of life. Although Vasudeva is a simple man, he understands and relates that the river has many voices and significant messages to divulge to any who might listen.
Some years later, Kamala, now a Buddhist convert, is travelling to see the Buddha at his deathbed, accompanied reluctantly by her young son, when she is bitten by a venomous snake near Siddhartha's river. Siddhartha recognizes her and realizes that the boy is his own child. After Kamala's death, Siddhartha attempts to console and raise the furiously resistant boy, until one day the child flees altogether. Although Siddhartha is desperate to find his runaway son, Vasudeva urges him to let the boy find his own path, much like Siddhartha did himself in his youth. Listening to the river with Vasudeva, Siddhartha realizes that time is an illusion and that all of his feelings and experiences, even those of suffering, are part of a great and ultimately jubilant fellowship of all things connected in the cyclical unity of nature. After Siddhartha's moment of illumination, Vasudeva claims that his work is done and he must depart into the woods, leaving Siddhartha peacefully fulfilled and alone once more.
Toward the end of his life, Govinda hears about an enlightened ferryman and travels to Siddhartha, not initially recognizing him as his old childhood friend. Govinda asks the now-elderly Siddhartha to relate his wisdom and Siddhartha replies that for every true statement there is an opposite one that is also true; that language and the confines of time lead people to adhere to one fixed belief that does not account for the fullness of the truth. Because nature works in a self-sustaining cycle, every entity carries in it the potential for its opposite and so the world must always be considered complete. Siddhartha simply urges people to identify and love the world in its completeness. Siddhartha then requests that Govinda kiss his forehead and, when he does, Govinda experiences the visions of timelessness that Siddhartha himself saw with Vasudeva by the river. Govinda bows to his wise friend and Siddhartha smiles radiantly, having found enlightenment.

Tags: psychedelic, philosophical, romantic

Review:
After seeing this movie again in New York recently and noticing that it was going to be available on DVD, I ordered it immediately through Amazon.com and decided to send the following comments, which were posted in the "customer reviews" section:1.
The novel narrates the pilgrimage of the son of a Brahmin, his struggle to find his own destiny; his friendship with Govinda (his "shadow"); his encounters with many different people: the Samanas (the ascetics that practice self-denial); Kamala (a courtesan who claims that she can teach and provide love as an art); Kamasawami (a rich merchant who becomes his boss); and Vasudeva...
In 1972, Conrad Rooks (an almost unknown movie director who made "Chappaqua" in 1966) came out with a 94-minute movie transcription of Hesse's novel.
He engaged Sven Nykvist (the famous Swedish cinematographer of Igmar Bergman) and a mainly Indian cast, including Shashi Kapoor (Siddhartha), Simi Garewal (Kamala), Romesh Sharma (Govinda) and Zul Vellani (Vasudeva).
The beautiful music was composed by Hemanta Mukherjee (I hope the soundtrack will be available soon).
The book and the movie became part of the "cult culture" of the West coast of the early seventies, but it never got the attention of the general public.
There are 27 interesting minutes of comments made by Conrad Rooks about why and how he made the movie 30 years ago.
With the DVD technology I am able to enjoy my favorite scenes and particularly the music of Hemanta Mukherjee on texts from another Nobel Prize, Rabindranath Tagore.
An indepth appreciation  of indian thought or , philosophy or likewise may prove invaluable in terms of understanding , some of the seemingly fleeting or trivial scenes, or more culturally esoteric moments in the film, thus,enabling one to be more fully consummated by its story, however I am sure it is not a prerequisite for the artfully minded!.
Among the the features of this film, is the music, of a musician singer who is legendary in India(I cant remember his name right now!)and is certainly legendary in this film, and is certainly a beautiful record of the 'Indian' spirituality alive and breathing to this day in India.
If anyone can tell me where i can get the soundtrack or some compilation of the music in this film i would be very appreciative, (this request is a long standing one)This film would appeal to those people who see or find or sense themselves on a similar"path" or quest, and may give much confirmation or food for thought about the possible turning points, or unknown or unexpected "detours" that one finds themselves engaged in along the way.
Still, I love this film, even because I consider it to be a very appropriate filming.Hesse's characters are mostly soul-searchers wandering around in rather artificial surroundings - which is true in the case of this timeless, ancient India.
As he is prone to put all the meaning into lengthy, philosophical dialogues, this makes him utterly difficult to turn into film.This film manages to capture both: the artificiality of the setting as well as the philosophical sincereness - plus that certain naive sense of beauty that makes Hesse so appealing and disgusting at once.
A good deal of the films success is due to Sven Nykvist's marvellous camera work, done mostly with natural light.
(The few scenes with set light are awful.) The beauty of the landscapes is not only the superficial one of a postcard, but the philosophical one that tells you that a beautiful world is essentially a good, complete, happy world: a world in which you can afford to completely focus on your personal search for meaning and spirituality.
I saw the movie Siddhartha some time ago because when I first saw the title, I recognized it as a philosophical work from my college days when I study Hesse's work from my philosophy class.It is a great film: I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed the book by Hermann Hesse.
It is by all accounts, a true Hesse's commentary on the meaning of life and man's condition on earth.I especially liked the music although the lyrics were foreign to me.
I wish I could get a translation of the songs that made the film even more enjoyable.A great philosophical work of art..
I saw the movie twice, the first time in Sweden in 1974; I had read Herman Hesse's book before that, and the story had strongly impressed me.
the photography was very poetic, the music (indian flutes, tablas) was very high in the aesthetics band, and the story conformed more or less with the book, but without taking away any of it's impact.
The music of the film by Hemant Kumar works beautifully.
The trouble is `Siddhartha,' beautiful as it is, is a simplification of a simplification, and a spiritual quest isn't something you necessarily understand better through lush visuals, though unquestionably some of Sven Nykvist's watery landscapes with trees are unforgettable, the color is deep and rich, the music is pleasing, and the principals are awfully good looking people.
Not surprisingly the high point cinematically is the sequence showing erotic encounters between the handsome lapsed sadhu, Siddhartha (Shashi Kapoor), and the lovely courtesan, Kamala.
Simi Garewal, who plays Kamala, is a gorgeous creature whose lovely eyes, long aristocratic nose, and pouty lips remind one of the all-time arch teaser and sexy sophisticate of English films, Joan Greenwood.
She's something to look at.When his buddy Govinda decides earlier to follow the Buddha, Siddhartha leaves Govinda bereft by deciding to go off on his own lone search, without a guru.
But Siddhartha's splitting with Govinda seems somewhat meaningless since at the end of the movie, Siddhartha has joined up with the peaceful boatman he met years earlier toward the end of his sadhu period, and he winds up spouting the boatman's words of wisdom:  live in the present, stop seeking, don't worry, be happy, and watch the river.
The Buddha apparently hasn't helped Govinda all that much either, since he meets Siddhartha again and also needs to be taught the boatman's simple doctrines.
One can't help thinking they'd both have done better staying with the Buddha, who did, after all, found one of the world's great religions.It's rather amusing that during the two men's youthful sadhu period, when they're on the road with a group of penniless holy men, `meditation' is represented as singing rhythmically and passing a bong.
My picture of this activity was different, but `Chappaqua' shows how obsessed with and involved in drugs Conrad Rooks was.This is a lovely, but empty and ultimately not very cinematic film.
Sven Nykvist's photography is at the service of a vision so generalized (Siddhartha is a universal type, not an individual), that too often the images look like something out of `National Geographic' with mise-en-scène by Bollywood.
The scenes are not as exotic as those Pasolini created for his `Arabian Nights' (1974), nor are Rooks' depictions of Indian rural life ever remotely as real as Satyajit Ray's in the `Apu Trilogy.'  For a trippier film version of Hermann Hesse, see Fred Haines' `Steppenwolf,' which came two years after `Siddhartha,' in 1974.
For a more original film depiction of a spiritual quest, see the story of G.I. Gurdjieff as done by Peter Brooks in `Meetings with Remarkable men' (1979)..
If you loved the book by Hermann Hesse, you will most likely love this film.
I am curious to know what people who had not read the book would think of this film..
The movie even in some ways can be better than the book,because give the viewers more imagination about the representation of the agony looking for the meaning of life.
Siddhartha is a brahaman, so is a man with great wealth, is not a simple ignorant person looking for the meaning of life.
I cant really speak to whether it is a faithful representation of the book at this point but I can tell you that it is absolutely faithful to the spirit of the it.The film is very elegant and the story remains relevant and inspiring.
If you have read the book than its not really a problem but for someone who has not it may be.Even at 1 hour and 20 minutes the film still feels epic in scope as it explores Siddharthas lifelong journey to find life's meaning and ultimately delivers a timeless message about the nature of the human condition.There is No Gene for the Human Spirit.I Can Think, I Can Wait and I Can Pray..
No movie that is even marginally true to the story that Nobel Prize-winning German author Hermann Hesse told in his novel Siddhartha (1951) is without merit; and this modest film is no exception.
The problem is, that while Conrad Brooks, who wrote, directed and produced the film, is true to the storyline of the novel and even in some respects true to the spirit of the novel, he fails to bring the power and the resplendence of Hesse's philosophic and spiritual masterpiece to the screen.What made the novel one of the best ever written is the character of Siddhartha himself.
Brooks fails almost immediately when he leaves out the scene from the book in which the young Siddhartha, not wanting to directly disobey his father (and to demonstrate his resolve) stands up all night waiting patiently for his father's permission to leave their splendid estates.
This is one of the great "coming of age" scenes ever written and an early insight into Siddhartha's strength of character, but Brooks gives it barely a notice!
This part of Siddhartha's life was essential in making him the man he was and in showing us his character.
(This parallels the experience of the "emaciated" Buddha.) Brooks does do the meeting with the Buddha well, having us hear his voice but not see him, and then follows that up with Siddhartha's reasons for not following the Buddha, even though he finds no fault with the Enlightened One's teachings.
Note that without his actually meeting the Buddha, the life of Siddhartha (which is one of the traditional names of the Buddha) would so closely parallel that of the Buddha that some people might think that Hesse had written a profane life of the Buddha, which might not set well with some Buddhists!
(Of course we all have the Buddha nature.) Siddhartha's life with the courtesan Kamala and the merchant Kamaswami and his spiral into debauchery and sloth is well depicted, although again the ultimate disillusionment that Siddhartha experienced is not as well presented as in the novel.
Although he would go on to be the veteran of well over a hundred films, and although he is appropriately enough Indian as well as tall, dark and handsome and a good actor, he fails to evoke the passion that Siddhartha must have.
Kapoor, especially near the end of the film when he plays an old man, occasionally made me feel that he could be "the Accomplished One," but more often he made me feel that he was holding something back.Finally, the poetic scene near the end of the novel when, after living with and being guided by Vasudeva, the ferryman, Siddhartha becomes one with the river and falls spiritually into its wisdom, is only a bland shadow of what appears in the novel!
Although not spectacular, Nykvist's camera conveys both the exotic beauty and the poverty of a landscape that could have been India 26 centuries ago.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!).
Not having read Hesse's novel, I went to see this film during its first and controversy-plagued release in Calcutta in 1976, purely for the music composed by my idol Hemanta Mukherjee.
By Indian standards, I can see why.Regarding the music, 2 correspondents had flayed Hemanta Mukherjee in the Calcutta daily THE STATESMAN for having vulgarized Siddhartha's quest with two Bengali songs, each from a different, and earlier, Bengali film.
True, one can wonder why Bengali in a film which has already used the convention of characters in ancient India speaking English.
Let us concede that for anyone who has seen the 2 Bengali films, the songs would come with their own distinct situational associations.
This is my problem with the other song, as I had seen the Bengali original by the time I saw SIDDHARTHA.Watching the film again in the late 1980s at the Penultimate Picture Palace, Oxford, I had to confess to a sneaking sympathy with my cousin, who, in 1976, had dismissed the film as 'pavement philosophy'.
They, I'm sure, are available now on CDs of the singer-composer's film songs.
From the 70s to the early 2000s was best time for movies.
Siddhartha is a young man who leaves home and sets out on a long search for the meaning of life.
We never see the transformation and it's hard to believe that it could possibly have taken place.)The India in which the story takes place is timeless (albeit convincingly solid), although we soon find out that Siddhartha is a contemporary of Buddha, who he meets but who doesn't appear in the film.
One problem with this kind of story is that the audience is really just waiting for the hero to realise that he's chasing a rainbow's end, and speaking for myself I'd prefer to watch the hero's life, rather than listen to empty platitudes and claptrap, while I wait.
Hesse or Rooks or whoever is responsible had a great gift for making nothing sound like something.Photography is gorgeous and the gentle editing lulls us into accepting the fairytale.
(SOME of this music you're bound to like - it's much too varied for any one person to dislike it all.)  It's not an arresting film, but it's a sweet and guileless one.
The pace of the film was slow, and the acting...well, it was sort of like watching a high school play.
I have always been very interested in the life of the Buddha, so I was looking forward to this movie.
The beauty of the movie is the misty panoramas of the quiet river.
Based on the novel by Herman Hesse, its Siddhartha, a young Brahmin from a rich family goes in search of "nirvana" with his friend, Govinda.
But this is where the two friends split and Siddhartha continues his journey in search of of nirvana during which he crosses the Ganges and meets Kamala, the lovely courtesan with whom he has an affair with, She introduces him to a rich merchant.
Eventually Siddhartha, finding that his mind is still not at peace, leaves his job after becoming wealthy, and also leave Kamala and returns to the the Ganges.
There he remains and helps the ferryman.The scenery in the film is just superb and this is most effective when shown Siddhartha standing in a dark room and fasting until his father permits him to leave.
The script is very well written and the acting by Bollywood actors, Shashi Kapoor as Siddhartha, Simi Garewall as Kamala, Romesh Sharma as Govinda and Pinchoo Kapoor as the rich merchant, Kumaraswami, is very good and each one of them is able to show their versatility.This is worth to watch film..
Very Very very Very Bad Movie from very Great Novel..
His Excellency Great Late Hemant Kumar had two bengali songs in this movie which are very very melodic.Her Excellency Simi Garewal did best start nudity on screen.
Excellent movie, direction, acting and music.
This excellent work(1972) of an American director Conrad Rooks made me fall in love with India and its spirituality all over again.I am so glad I could borrow and watch this movie from a public library (Dow library in Midland Michigan).
This movie is based on a Nobel prize winner novel by Hermann Hesse.
Being fed-up with his father's routine life, Siddharth decides to get out of the town and wishes to become a 'sadhu' and attain nirvana (eternal-peace).
I always find him boring and cold in almost all his movies..The conversation between Kamala and Siddharth is very touching.
I hope not.For Siddharth, the journey of spirituality is reverse (seem to happen to many people)..Its from "vairagya" (renunciation) to "bhoga" (materialistic luxury) and back again..Some simple men and women who follow simple philosophy and travel from bhoga to yoga and to nirvana(eternal peace), seem to be doing it right...However, there is nothing right and nothing wrong in this journey...Like a meandering river, we all trace(carve) different paths, suitable to our mind and our body.
Beautiful film of a story which plays in Buddha's time..
Story in legend form of a Brahmin's son at the times of The Buddha who sets out on a journey to find himself.
After he has experienced the life in the city and become a successful business man, he returns to the river.
The film does a beautiful job with stunning photography.
Well, I am a big Hermann Hesse fan and found this to be a very good representation of the book, it definitely got main ideas across to say the least.
Although with every book-to-movie it misses out on at least a few details...
but I mean, I have no real complaints.I would definitely recommend this film to any Hermann Hesse fans, or even anyone interested in spirituality or Buddhism.I do wonder why it's received such a low score though, I am guessing many people never read the book or are not familiar with H.H.In any case, compared to most modern day films this was actually captivating and had a heart to it..
I read the novel Siddhartha and found it to be a very interesting, and good book.In class today, we watched this film.
I read the book and loved it, so did many of my AP Literature classmates, but not a single person in the room enjoyed the movie--they all laughed because of how terrible and random it was.Siddhartha searched to find the realms of enlightenment--this movie searched the realms of stupidity and terrible acting, and succeeded.