A Guest of Life: Alexander Csoma De Körös

Background: A highly debated topic was in the 19th century if Hungarians originate from Finno-Ugric or Turkic peoples. Sandor Csoma (1784-1842), a linguist and orientalist set foot in 1819 to research this matter in Asia, but reaching Tibet in 1822, he ended up dedicating the rest of his life to writing books about the Tibetian language and Buddhism.

This essay-documentary introduces Csoma as a Hungarian folk tale hero, but his adventures are getting more and more philosophical until the narrator speaks about nothhing but the Buddhist point of view on life. Hence the title: Csoma first was a guest of rulers on his way to Asia, by the end he realises he was A GUEST OF LIFE on his way from whatever was before his birth to whatever comes after death.

The style of this film is episodic, flashing quotes and illustrating whatever is told with home video footage style excerpts of the given places, and that helps the viewer taking up the traveller's point of view. When the narration is too abtract, minimalistic animations are used instead. Similarly, the music usually represents the style of the given region. Csoma being a polyglot, the narration uses a dozen languages without translation. Nothing is missed, it's just a way to illustrate Csoma's thoughts.

Overall, the Buddhist philosophy might be revelating for some, but I feel like the images did not convey and support them well enough to make this a great movie.