It is refreshing to find a heavy-hitting European auteur telling his story with such directness, and delightful to see a serious, artistically exacting film for children, even if you suspect it will soar over that audience.

In a quiet way, this gorgeous movies accomplishes many things.

Bertolucci's celebrated burnt-orange-and-burnished-lemon look remains handsome, and the story itself still commands some interest as a pivot into daunting material.

Little Buddha is peak Bertolucci, which is to say, peak cinema, opulent and awesome, with camera movement that follows thought so that our reception of information provides the joy of learning.