Zen (2009 film)
7.6 /10 1 Votes
Genre Biography, Drama Initial release January 10, 2009 Running time 2h 8m | 7.4/10 IMDb Duration | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genres Drama, Biographical film, Chinese Movies Cast Kantarô Nakamura (Dogen), (Orin), Ryushin Tei (Ji-uen / Kugyo Minamoto), Kengo Kora , Tatsuya Fujiwara , Jun Murakami Similar movies Beyond Thought (Awareness Itself) , How To Cook Your Life , Peace Is Every Step , Mindful Movements: Gentle, Contemplative Exercises with the Monks and Nuns of Plum Village , The Last Emperor , Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring |
"Zen" is a 2009 film directed by Banmei Takahashi and starring Nakamura Kantarō II as Dogen, and Yuki Uchida as Orin.
Contents

The film is a biography of Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師) (19 January 1200 – 22 September 1253), a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher. After travelling to China to study, Dogen founded the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. The Buddhist Film Foundation described it as "a poignant, in-depth, reverent and surprisingly moving portrait of Eihei Dogen."

Zen - Official Trailer
Reception
Russell Edwards of Variety described it as "The origins of a spiritual tradition are depicted with prerequisite solemnity and a pleasing veneer of arthouse showmanship." Mark Schilling, writing for The Japan Times, gave the film three and a half stars and described it as a "rare serious film about this form of Buddhism, which has had a huge cultural influence but is little understood — let alone practiced — by ordinary Japanese."
Release
The film premiered in Japan in 2009. The following year, it had its US debut at the International Buddhist Film Festival. The film was released on DVD and includes a short documentary entitled The Zen of Dogen with Kazuaki Tanahashi.
References
Zen (2009 film) WikipediaZen (2009 film) IMDb Zen (2009 film) themoviedb.org