You won't be disappointed!

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Great Film overall

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Cast: Phra Khru Bah Neua Chai Kositto, Pan Saen, Nehn Suk, Khun Ead,Pan Saen and Boontam Director: Mark VerkerkPlot: "Buddha's lost children" is a story of a wandering monk Khru Bah and his disciples traveling along the borders of Thailand aiming to rebuild a temple 100 kilometres away. The borders on the road are full of poor villages, residents of which have problems with drug addiction. A former Thai boxer Khru Bah, who found his mission in monkhood aims to help such villagers to deal with their problems. His altruism is not limited to the villagers, since he also manages to spiritually educate and bring hope to orphans and children from poor families - his disciples for new life. This spellbinding narrative about a daily life of the monk and his small community during a year-long adventure, is definitely worth dedicating time to. Review: The Dutch director Mark Verkerk rather than capturing a documentary about the Buddhism itself, focused on its narrow aspect - life of a small representative part of Buddhist sangha residing in the area of Golden Triangle in Thailand. It is worth noting that the director and his crew observed their daily activities of Khru Bah and his followers throughout a year and succeeded in portray their life in a realistic way. The documentary focuses on three young disciples of Khru Bah, each with a different story of becoming a monk. Suk was a muted child with sad eyes, who finally became exemplary for his peers and who plans to pursue monkhood in the future. Pan Saen joined Khru Bah, since his mother had no means to feed him for, but grew into a stronger child with a good concentration. Boontam, the 4-year old who had problems with his legs and barely could walk, became the youngest member of Kru Bah's community and for his great heart and happy attitudes was ascribed traits of the potential Buddha by his teacher. All of these stories are different in certain ways, but what unites them is that they all grew into stronger personalities under the mentorship of Kru Bah. The community of Khru Bah is not limited to him and his disciples. It is impossible to imagine a life of this community without a nun, Khun Ead, who is responsible for a variety of daily tasks, such as cooking and healthcare. Moreover, there is a strong interdependence between villagers and monks; since villagers earn merit once they give alms to the monks. Still, one of the episodes depicts that monks led by Kru Bah provide blankets and food for some poor villagers, standing in a long queue. This shows an altruistic component of Kru Bah's community. One might be prejudiced that the Buddhist monks behave in a very peaceful manner. The documentary reveals, however, that Khru Bah places great importance on the discipline among his surrounding and can even apply physical strength to the ones, who break the order. This applies to villagers, who wanted to fight each other in one of the scenes, and also to his disciples who are stubborn and are unwilling to follow their master's directions. Such behavior might be shaped by his past as a boxer. It should be mentioned that Thai boxing is a necessary skill for his disciples as a means of self-defense. At certain moments, Khru Bah appears as an authoritative figure, but this only emphasizes his prestige among people. This illustrates a high degree of respect for monks within a whole Buddhist community. Overall, the director and his crew made a fascinating job in showcasing life of a small Buddhist community. By demonstrating how multiple aspects of Sangha life intertwine with each other, they help a viewer to get a complete and realistic picture of the monks lives. Although, Kru Bah is far from being a usual monk, his life is an inspirational story about the strength of will, purity of intentions, mutual help and discipline.

Frankly speaking, at first I was somewhat skeptical about the Dutch film with the word "Buddha" in its title, however, after watching it, my opinion completely changed. It may not be the most precise representation of Buddhist monks' lifestyle, but it certainly gives us a good insight on it. The first thing that attracted my attention was the fact that events of this documentary take place on the border of Thailand, Burma and Laos- the area that is called the "Golden Triangle'. Since this region is infamous for its history of production and trade in opium, I was interested to see to what extent the film would be able to show the reality of situation faced by people living there. Though it was not the primary goal of the movie to cause sympathy, it certainly succeeded to provoke my emotions. Harsh living conditions of villagers were portrayed pretty accurately, but what affected me more were children and, of course, Khru Bah hilmself. As we are shown, some children initially did not want to go to the monastery, I myself even felt sorry for Pan Sean who had to leave his family. However, The Golden Horse monastery is more than a place where monks live and practice religion - it is primarily home for many people. As time passes, we can definitely see how the care children receive in the monastery begins to change them, they even begin to refer to Khru Bah as to their father. Considering the fact that relationships between monks in the monastery have to be neutral, it appeared somewhat controversial at the beginning. But now, after watching the documentary fully, I can say that this film's goal is not to simply represent certain aspect of religion- it is to represent humaneness and love. As Khru Bah said, this type of love is pretty tough, it's not weak. Through discipline he wants to make these children strong, that's why sometimes he has to be firm. That is probably one of the main reasons why his novices practice Thai boxing. This phenomenon also actually seemed quite confusing to me since I did not associate Buddhist monks with such type of sport. However, it indicates that documentary succeeded to once again break the stereotype that Buddhism is pacifist religion. I found the scene of rebuilding of the temple quite imposing, more particularly, I was impressed by Khun Ead. At first glance the fragile nun could efficiently suppress conflict that almost turned into a fight among young volunteers from the village. Even though Khru Bah first noticed the discord, it was Khun Ead who carried out "educational work" most part of the time. Overall, watching Suk, Pan Saen and other boys growing up, gaining experience and socializing was pleasurable and refreshing. At the beginning I had a feeling that this was going to be a very tough film that would show mostly difficulties that children and the monk has to overcome every day in order to survive. Indeed, this suggestion was not fully wrong, however, contrary to my expectations, at the end I found myself in a really good mood. Doubtlessly, people like Khru Bah should be depicted in media to show their good deeds and promote such kind of behavior among others. He and his novices reminded me that we should appreciate what we have and left me with the thought that happiness can be achieved even in such hard and sometimes dangerous conditions.

Buddha's Lost Children manages to suck you right into the lives of its main characters. Director Verkerk and cameraman Heijnen were able to enter the "realm" of monk Phra Khru Bah and film him and his novices skin close. If you think all Buddhist monks spend their days meditating and worshipping, you'll get a refreshing insight into a more up-to-date version: this Thai counterpart of the Ratcatcher-of- Hamelin-on-horseback has a full time job dedicated to offering poor boys a future away from poverty, drugs and violence. The monk is the kind of father children are drawn to, admire and fear at the same time. A parent they'll worship once they're grown. The relationship between the monk and his right-hand-nun is one of utter respect and dedication. Even under the most difficult circumstances, their synergy make things happen. Although less featured in the film, the unconventional nun seems to be at least as important to the boys as the monk is.

Buddhas Lost Children is a documentary but it watches like a movie. It tells the story of a Thai-boxer becoming a monk called Phra Khru Bah and taking care of orphans in a very poor region in the north of Thailand. Although the story is not always logical to follow because there are jumps in time and space the real story being told here is that of love, dedication and sharing. It may sound soft but when you take the time to watch this documentary you'll find out that life over there is very tough and it takes a lot of creativity and flexibility to take care of the many children Phra Kru Bah has under his care. Watching Buddhas Lost Children brought me into a certain mood that made me reflect on what is really important in life, that's why for me this documentary is a valuable lesson in what life is really about.