SUNDAY BUDDHIST SCHOOL (2012, Chulayarnnon Siriphol, documentary,
A+)
You can watch this film without English subtitles here:
What I like in this film is the information that now Buddhist
schools also teach other things, such as Japanese and Thai classical dance, for
free. And the fact that the best thing that some students get from this school
is to learn how to concentrate their minds. If you can control your mind and
your thoughts, it will benefit you in many ways.
This film is also full of people expressing conservative opinions.
I personally don’t agree with these opinions, but this is a fact about people
who are related to this school. So we must listen to them if we want to
understand the school and the people involved in it.
In a way, this film unintentionally reminds me of WHEEL OF TIME
(2003, Werner Herzog, documentary), because I think both films are good, but
they are devoid of “evil power” or devoid of “criticism on religions”. Both films present some facts about religion,
and present people who are wholeheartedly worship it. So we can see only the
good sides of it. Sometimes I think “evil power” is what makes films very
interesting or exciting, so films which deal with only the good sides of
something may not be as powerful as films dealing with the dark sides of
something.
Anyway, I think both SUNDAY BUDDHIST SCHOOL and WHEEL OF TIME do a
good job. Both films may not be “extremely interesting”, but the directors did
the best they could, judging by their topics. And at least both films are not
propaganda (trying to promote religion).
As for documentary films about religion that I like, they include
HALLELUYAH (2012, Uthaiwan Saragool) and DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND (2002, Lucy
Walker).
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