I want to report a case of child abuse. A 4-year- old boy has been carried away by a man in red robes, has had all his hair shaved off and has been forced to live in a monastery in remote Nepal.
But the man in red robes, Tenzin Zopa by name, isn’t going to get into trouble. Everything he’s done is perfectly legal. In fact, the Dalai Lama is on his side.
Here’s why: On the slimmest of evidence, the pudgy lad has been judged to be the reincarnation of a Zen master who died in his mid-80s.
And the child-snatcher is the deceased’s closest disciple, who has been given the task of finding his late master’s reincarnated self.
The story unfolds in Israeli director Nati Baratz’s intriguing, beautifully filmed documentary “Unmistaken Child,” which records Tenzin Zopa’s search and its aftermath.
Baratz presents the events without comment, and none of the people filmed by him has qualms about the boy’s fate.
But you have to wonder what effect being taken from his family and forced to live and pray with old men in red robes will have on the boy’s psyche.
I hope they have shrinks in remote Nepal, because this kid is going to need one.
P.S.: The scenery is awesome.
In English, Tibetan, Nepalese and Hindi, with English subtitles. Running time: 102 minutes. Not rated (mature themes). At Film Forum, Houston Street west of Sixth Avenue.