Films about Buddhist monks

Films about Buddhist monks
List of the best films about Buddhist monks selected by visitors of our site: Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, Legend of the Demon Cat, Kundun, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, The Monkey King: The Legend Begins, Little Buddha, Samsara, Zen, Norwegian Wood, Special Treatment.

In the top there are new films of 2020, a plot description and trailers for films that have already been released.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrefantasy, comedy, adventure
CountryChina, Hong Kong
Duration01:50

In a world plagued by demons who cause great human suffering, young demon hunter Xuan Zang risks his all to conquer a water demon, a pig demon and the demon of all demons, Sun Wukong.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrefantasy, melodrama, detective, biography, history
CountryChina, Japan, Hong Kong
Duration02:03

During the Late Tang Dynasty, a manor is invaded by a demon cat and a sense of unrest befalls the capital of Changan. A poet is charged with investigating the case and meets up with a monk. The two work together and pull apart the thread of clues to reveal a history of truths leading to the events.

Markimdb: 7
Genredrama, military, biography, history
CountryUSA, Monaco, Morocco
Duration02:14

The Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama as 'Kundun', which means 'The Presence'. He was forced to escape from his native home, Tibet, when communist China invaded and enforced an oppressive regime upon the peaceful nation. The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 and has been living in exile in Dharamsala ever since.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrefantasy, drama
CountryThailand, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain
Duration01:54

Suffering from acute kidney failure, Boonmee has chosen to spend his final days surrounded by his loved ones in the countryside. Surprisingly, the ghost of his deceased wife appears to care for him, and his long lost son returns home in a non-human form. Contemplating the reasons for his illness, Boonmee treks through the jungle with his family to a mysterious hilltop cave—the birthplace of his first life.

Mark
Genreaction, fantasy, adventure
CountryChina, Hong Kong

The Monkey King: The Legend Begins is the re-imagined version by Hollywood of the film The Monkey King: Havoc in Heavens Palace, the origin and birthplace of The Monkey King Story.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genredrama
CountryFrance, Liechtenstein, United Kingdom
Duration02:03

After the death of Lama Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist monks find three children — one American and two Nepalese — who may be the rebirth of their great teacher.

Markimdb: 7.7
Genremelodrama, drama, adventure
CountryIndia, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg
Duration02:18

A love story situated in the Himalayas. A Buddhist monk can't choose between life and the way of the Buddha.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genredrama, biography
CountryJapan
Duration02:07

In the early 1200s, Dogen brought Chinese Zen philosophy to Japan, and established the Japanese Zen school of Buddhism. He taught that a person was capable of realizing Buddhahood within himself, by way of Zazen. Zazen is extended hours of sitting and meditating to achieve a state of “Mu” (nothingness, or empty existence).

Markimdb: 6.3
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryJapan
Duration02:13

Set in the 1960s, high school student Toru Watanabe loses his only friend Kizuki after he commits suicide. Toru, now looking for a new life, enters a university in Tokyo. By chance, Toru meets Kizuki's ex-girlfriend Naoko in the university. They grow close because they both share the same loss. As Toru and Naoko grow even closer, Naoko's sense of loss also grows. After Naoko's 20th birthday, she leaves for a sanitarium in Kyoto. Watanabe, devastated by the situation, meets pure-hearted Midori during the spring semester. Midori looks like a small animal that just came into the world ...

Markimdb: 5.5
Genredrama
CountryFrance, Luxembourg, Belgium
Duration01:35

Drawing some intriguing parallels between the work of the prostitute and that of the psychiatrist-both have clients, both charge for sessions, both take on roles that serve the needs, psychological or otherwise, of those they serve, Jeanne Labrune's drama stars Isabelle Huppert and Bouli Lanners as, respectively, Alice, a disaffected call girl and Xavier, a shrink with a crumbling domestic situation.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genremelodrama, drama, detective, film noir
CountryChina, France
Duration01:25

Luo Hongwu returns to Kaili, the hometown from which he fled many years ago. He begins the search for the woman he loved, and whom he has never been able to forget.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genrethriller, drama, military, biography, history
CountryUSA
Duration02:22

A group of journalists covering George Bush's planned invasion of Iraq in 2003 are skeptical of the presidents claim that Saddam Hussein has "weapons of mass destruction."

Markimdb: 6.3
Genredrama, biography, history
CountryCzech Republic, USA

The story of communist show-trial victim Milada Horáková. Horáková was one of the first victims of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. She opposed the communist coup in 1948 but did not leave the country. She was arrested and tried for treason on fabricated charges in a show trial that was broadcast on the radio and shown in film clips. The film focuses on the time from 1945 to 1950 when the communists took over, but also goes back a little further in Horáková's life into the late 1930s

Markimdb: 6
Genredrama, biography, history
CountryJapan, Hong Kong

Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan risk their lives and stay at the nuclear power plant to prevent total destruction after the region is devastated by an earthquake an tsunami in 2011.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrefantasy, melodrama, drama, adventure, biography
CountryUSA

Lucy, a small-town girl from Ohio, discovers the delightfully bizarre films of legendary filmmaker Federico Fellini and sets off on a journey across Italy to find him.

Markimdb: 3
Genrehorror, thriller, drama, crime, detective
CountryUSA

Inspired by actual events, a group of 12 year old girls face a night of horror when the compulsive addiction of an online social media game turns a moment of cyber bullying into a night of insanity.

Markimdb: 4.6
Genrehorror, fantasy, drama
CountrySpain

Alex and Selma are a couple in love on a trip to the heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Suddenly, Selma feels a mysterious force is chasing them.

Markimdb: 4.9
Genreaction, fantasy, adventure
CountryUSA
Duration01:51

A secret cabal, The Shadow, works to bring about the return of Goth Azul - the Undead God - in the rich world of SAGA, populated by elves, orcs, dwarves and dragons. A ruthless elven bounty huntress (Nemyt) shoots down the dragon ridden by the fugitive orc shaman, Fangtor Bloodmoon. When Fangtor refuses to surrender quietly, the huntress must battle for her own life against the dangerous villain, and comes away with more than just his head.

Markimdb: 4.4
Genrehorror, fantastic, action, fantasy, comedy
CountryJapan
Duration01:21

A band of ninja warriors, led by an Iga Ninja named Yamata, witness a giant ball of fire drop from the sky and crash into the forest. When the warriors find and attempt to identify the object, they discover aliens that attack and feast on them. Yamata and the survivors swear vengeance, but in challenging the aliens, they learn that their weapons have no effect.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genrefantasy, drama, detective
CountryThailand, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Malaysia, South Korea, Mexico, USA, Norway
Duration01:10

In a hospital, ten soldiers are being treated for a mysterious sleeping sickness. In a story in which dreams can be experienced by others, and in which goddesses can sit casually with mortals, a nurse learns the reason why the patients will never be cured, and forms a telepathic bond with one of them.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genredrama, biography, history
CountryItaly, Germany, Poland
Duration03:10

Augustine is a two-part, Italian-made mini-series about the influential theologian and church father Augustine of Hippo. The piece tells the story of his life from a teenager to his death at the age of 69.Much of the content for the scenes of him as a young and middle-aged man come from his Confessions, which is probably the earliest extant autobiography.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genredrama
CountryItaly, Germany, Luxembourg
Duration01:28

An old shepherd lives his last days in a quiet medieval village perched high on the hills of Calabria, at the southernmost tip of Italy. He herds goats under skies that most villagers have deserted long ago. He is sick, and believes to find his medicine in the dust he collects on the church floor, which he drinks in his water every day.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genredrama, biography
CountryUSA
Duration01:51

Tragedy strikes when a woman named Joyce's son falls through the ice on a frozen lake and is trapped underwater for over 15 minutes. After being rushed to the hospital, the 14-year-old boy continues to fight for his life as Joyce, her husband and their pastor stay by his bedside and pray for a miracle.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryJapan
Duration01:49

Ryota is an unpopular writer although he won a literary award 15 years ago. Now, Ryota works as a private detective. He is divorced from his ex-wife Kyoko and he has an 11-year-old son Shingo. His mother Yoshiko lives alone at her apartment. One day, Ryota, his ex-wife Kyoko, and son Shingo gather at Yoshiko's apartment. A typhoon passes and the family must stay there all night long.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genrecomedy, drama, crime
CountryRomania, USA, Italy, Poland, France
Duration01:50

A Romanian police officer teams up with a small crew of bank robbers to pull off a heist by convincing everyone at the scene of the crime that they are only filming a movie.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genredrama, biography
CountryUnited Kingdom, Vietnam

Christina Noble overcomes the harsh difficulties of her childhood in Ireland to discover her destiny on the streets of Saigon. A true story.

Markimdb: 5.7
Genreaction, fantasy, adventure
CountryUSA, United Kingdom, Australia, Spain
Duration01:39

A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken, Perseus-the demigod son of Zeus-is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans. Dangerously weakened by humanity's lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades and Poseidon.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genreaction, fantasy, comedy, drama, adventure, family
CountryUSA, New Zealand
Duration02:18

For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace, who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales... until she meets Pete, a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete's descriptions, Elliott seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham's stories. With the help of Natalie, an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genrefantastic, fantasy, adventure
CountryUSA, New Zealand
Duration01:04

A young Healer armed with an unpredictable magic guides a runaway Elf in her perilous quest to save the peoples of the Four Lands from an age-old Demon scourge.

Markimdb: 2.7
Genrehorror, fantasy, adventure
CountryUSA
Duration01:29

The beautiful Aurora is cursed into everlasting sleep by an evil witch for a crime she didn't commit. The brave Commander of the Guard, William, embarks on a quest inspired by both love and loyalty to free the doomed princess. He travels into the dark forest where he encounters a friendly elf that helps him on his quest, a dangerous wizard with no love for royalty or evil, a deadly assassin, and a ravenous creature that preys on human flesh before the final confrontation that will determine Aurora's fate.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genreaction, fantasy, drama, adventure
CountryNew Zealand, USA
Duration02:24

Immediately after the events of The Desolation of Smaug, Bilbo and the dwarves try to defend Erebor's mountain of treasure from others who claim it: the men of the ruined Laketown and the elves of Mirkwood. Meanwhile an army of Orcs led by Azog the Defiler is marching on Erebor, fueled by the rise of the dark lord Sauron. Dwarves, elves and men must unite, and the hope for Middle-Earth falls into Bilbo's hands.

Markimdb: 4
Genrefantastic, action, thriller, fantasy, adventure
CountryUSA

During their search for a habitable planet the last living humans crash-land on a barren world, inhabited by bloodthirsty aliens and mysterious post-apocalyptic warriors.

Markimdb: 6.6
Genrethriller, drama, military, biography, history
CountryUSA
Duration02:32

In 1960, a team of Israeli secret agents is deployed to find Adolf Eichmann, the infamous Nazi architect of the Holocaust, supposedly hidden in Argentina, and get him to Israel to be judged.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genrecomedy, drama, biography, history
CountryUSA
Duration01:47

When her idyllic vacation takes an unthinkable turn, Ellen Martin begins investigating a fake insurance policy, only to find herself down a rabbit hole of questionable dealings that can be linked to a Panama City law firm and its vested interest in helping the world's wealthiest citizens amass larger fortunes.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genrefantasy, drama, detective
CountryUSA
Duration01:09

Holden wakes up from a coma after 12 years and discovers new abilities that propel him into the middle of a dangerous conspiracy.

Markimdb: 5.6
Genredrama, family, biography
CountryFinland, Sweden
Duration00:46

Through the eyes of two 12-year-old boys, the sexual revolution arrives in a conservative and religious small town in Northern Finland.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genredrama, biography, history
CountryUnited Kingdom, France, Germany, USA
Duration02:30

Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.

Markimdb: 5.9
Genrehorror, thriller, fantasy, detective
CountryCanada, France
Duration01:37

A teenager is stuck in a time loop that is not quite the same each time. She must uncover the truth but her actions have consequences for herself and others.

Markimdb: 7
Genrefantasy, comedy, drama
CountryBelgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany
Duration01:38

Thomas, a father in his fifties, returns by chance to the town where he grew up. He collapses and wakes up forty years earlier in the body of his teenage self. Thrown back into his past, Thomas will not only have to re-live his first love, but also try to understand the reasons for his father’s mysterious departure. Can you change the past by living it again?

Markimdb: 5.4
Genredrama
CountryGermany, Canada, France, Sweden, Norway
Duration01:59

One day, driving aimlessly around the outskirts of town after a trivial domestic quarrel, a writer named Tomas accidentally hits and kills a child. Will he be able to move on?

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrehorror, thriller, fantasy, detective
CountryItaly, USA
Duration02:26

A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the troupe's artistic director, an ambitious young dancer and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare, others will finally wake up.

Markimdb: 6.3
Genreaction, thriller, comedy, melodrama, drama, crime
CountryUSA, Romania
Duration01:43

While traveling abroad, a guy falls for a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in her violent, charismatic ex.

Markimdb: 3.3
Genreaction, fantasy, adventure
CountryUSA, Malaysia
Duration01:54

A warrior fleeing the violence of his past must take up the sword and risk everything to face a god of incalculable power.

Markimdb: 5.7
Genreaction, drama, military, biography, history, sport
CountryUSA

Zamperini returns to California where he wound up marrying Cynthia Applewhite while wrestling with untreated PTSD, suffering constant nightmares, angry, bitter and deeply depressed, his wife convinces Zamperini to attend the 1949 Billy Graham Crusade.

Markimdb: 4
Genreaction, fantasy, adventure, family
CountryUSA
Duration01:43

    The story follows the adventures of Aang, a young successor to a long line of Avatars, who must put his childhood ways aside and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations.

    Markimdb: 6.6
    Genredrama, military, biography, history
    CountryJapan
    Duration02:20

    Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943) was the Japanese Naval commander who was given the order to attack Pearl Harbour, an order he was duty bound to obey which went against his own personal beliefs. While this infamous attack is a low point in Japanese and US history it wouldn’t have happened if the Japanese government had listened to Yamamoto in 1939 and searched for a more peaceful way to end their war campaign, proving his many ominous presages of the outcomes of the attack to come true.

    Markimdb: 5.4
    Genreaction, fantasy, adventure
    CountryUSA, Australia, China, Hong Kong
    Duration01:28

      A common thief joins a mythical god on a quest through Egypt.

      Markimdb: 7.5
      Genredrama, biography
      CountryFrance

      Marie Heurtin is born both blind and deaf. Sister Marguerette wins her trust and teaches her how to express herself.

      Markimdb: 5.5
      Genreaction, fantasy
      CountryChina, Hong Kong
      Duration01:33

      The third installment of the blockbuster fantasy series sees the return of the Monkey King (Aaron Kwok) in his most action-packed adventure yet! While continuing their epic journey to the West, the Monkey King and his companions are taken captive by the Queen of an all-female land, who believes them to be part of an ancient prophecy heralding the fall of her kingdom. With a lot of sorcery and a little bit of charm, the travelers devise a plan to escape. But when their trickery angers the mighty River God, they realize they might just bring about the foretold destruction - unless they can find a way to quell her wrath.




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