Pequín, 1908. Pu Yi, un nen de tres anys, és designat emperador i no podrà sortir de la ciutat prohibida on viurà rodejat d'una cort sumptuosa. Pu Yi té un preceptor, l'escocès Reginald Johnston, que arriba a ser el seu millor amic. El 1922 Pu Yi es casa amb Wang Jung i agafa una concubina. Al cap de dos anys, Beny Yu Hsiang pren el poder i expulsa Pu Yi de la ciutat prohibida. El 1932 accepta ser l'emperador titella de Manxukuo, ex-Manxúria, envaïda pels japonesos. Al final de la guerra és jutjat com a criminal de guerra.
Kham és un jove que viu feliç a la Tailàndia rural. Però aquesta tranquil·la vida donarà un tomb radical quan una banda mafiosa amb base a Austràlia roba els seus elefants traslladant-los a Sidney. Els dos elefants són més que uns simples animals per en Kham i el seu pare; són dos membres més de la família que han estat preparats durant anys per regalar-los-hi com a signe de devoció al rei de Tailàndia. L'única possibilitat de recuperar als animals serà endinsar-se en una terra desconeguda i lluitar contra la banda mafiosa.
Heinrich Harrer és un muntanyenc austríac que viu l'ascens del nazisme i participa, amb el seu company Peter Aufschnaiter, en una ascensió a l'Himàlaia el 1939. Això els dóna ocasió de conèixer el Tibet. Visiten la ciutat sagrada de Lhasa, on són els únics estrangers, fan amistat amb el Dalai Lama i viuen l'escalada del conflicte entre el Tibet i la Xina.
A new couple and their families reckon with modern love amid culture clashes, societal expectations and generational differences.
A young Prince Asoka works to perfect his skills in battle and also deals with family conflict. During a struggle with one of his step-brothers, his mother urges Asoka to escape to stay alive. While away, Asoka meets Kaurwaki and falls in love, but must use his skills as a warrior to protect her. A dangerous and heartbreaking web of conspiracy follows, which leads Asoka to embrace a Buddhist path.
The all-powerful Monkey King once roamed freely between Heaven and Earth, but after angering the Gods, he was imprisoned within an ice cage deep within the mountains. 500 years later, monsters attack a small village and a child flees to the mountains. Unknowingly, the child releases the Monkey King from his curse. With the help and encouragement from this special child, Monkey King saves the village from the evil monsters.
After a Tibetan boy, the mystical Golden Child, is kidnapped by the evil Sardo Numspa, humankind's fate hangs in the balance. On the other side of the world in Los Angeles, the priestess Kee Nang seeks the Chosen One, who will save the boy from death. When Nang sees social worker Chandler Jarrell on television discussing his ability to find missing children, she solicits his expertise, despite his skepticism over being "chosen."
An isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.
In a world plagued by demons who cause great human suffering, young demon hunter Tang Sanzang must fight against monstrous demons, as well as contend with a beautiful demon hunting woman on his path to enlightenment.
L'oncle Boonmee, agricultor tailandès dedicat a l'apicultura, pateix una greu insuficiència renal crònica. Conscient que li resta poc temps de vida, reuneix al seu voltant els familiars més propers: la seva cunyada Jen i el seu nebot Tong. L'acompanya també Jaai, immigrant provinent de Laos que ha esdevingut el seu home de confiança i infermer.
Ku Shen Chai, an artist in his early 30s, still lives with his mother, but he is suddenly shaken by the arrival of Yang Hui-ching, a mysterious princess on the run. Yang brings Ku into her circle of protectors, including a nameless monk whose spiritual guidance transforms him into a valiant fighter.
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.
After his brother was crippled in the ring by a cheating Thai boxer, Chan Hung goes to Thailand to avenge his brother, and finds the key to an omen which may release their family from an ancient curse. He is then caught up in a spiraling web of fate, Buddhist curses, and black magic.
Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha, the founders of Christianity and Buddhism, are living together as roommates in a Tokyo apartment while taking a vacation on Earth. The comedy often involves jokes about Christianity, Buddhism, and all things related, as well as the main characters' attempts to hide their identities and understand modern society in Japan.
In 1951, a young Vietnamese girl arrives at a Saigon household as their new servant.
In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a POW.
Falsely accused for cheating in a martial arts competition, two boyhood friends are banished from their Shaolin Temple and go their separate ways. As adults, they join opposing sides in a civil war. When one betrays the other, they settle their differences mano-a-mano.
A sister and brother, the last heirs of a family of acrobats, are called upon by a Buddhist monk sect to retrieve an artifact that their ancestors have protected throughout the ages.
Giovanni currently lives a dreary life of near non-stop work. At school, his peers ridicule him incessantly, and his employer at work is distant and cold. As his isolation from society becomes unbearable, he suddenly finds himself on a train heading far away from his miserable home. Accompanied by Campanella, an acquaintance from school, Giovanni embarks on a journey that will define the rest of his life.
Hell manifests itself through the sins, shame and desires of an upper class rural family and a mother's grief from beyond the grave.