DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT - Johanna Demetrakas
My experience with Trungpa, Rinpoche was that he always created a feeling of openness, unpredictability, stark reality, compassion and biting humor BAM! all at the same time. His brief life was full of what westerners would call contradictions but what Tibetan Buddhists say they expected from an "enlightened" being. I saw his famous drinking cause him to stagger but never lose his brilliance for an instant. How did he do it? And in the teaching, he managed to translate and transpose ancient knowledge from a different language, from a far off land and culture and bring it all smack into English and the modern, western world. Tracing that journey has been fascinating; he is both controversial and widely respected. But what is really a challenge is for the film to create an experience for our audience of that legendary Trungpa energy: fearless, inscrutable, hilarious, razor sharp, freedom.
The film's stylistic approach will be at once wide open and clearly formal, with rich stories coming from not only his students but recognized Tibetan Buddhist masters such as the Dalai Lama, critics, artists, performers and family. Trungpa was a serious artist and poet well beyond the traditional Tibetan monastic use of the arts. His calligraphy, flower and object arrangements, his poetry and photography will be used throughout the film to show how his personal expression sprang forth from his teachings. We filmed in Tibet to capture a glimpse of the life of a young lama, the great sense of the land, sky and altitude, the purity of the Tibetan culture and also the tragedy of it's people under Communist control. We traveled to England for the story of his first years in the west, where he wrote the first book published in English by a Tibetan, opened the first Tibetan Buddhist meditation center in the west, experienced a serious car accident that left him paralyzed on one side for the rest of his life and catalyzed his life-changing decision to take off his robes, put aside his vows, and live like a westerner so that he could communicate the teachings directly.
I've always felt the big questions in life, 'Who am I?' 'Where did I come from?' 'What is the point?' are relevant to every little thing we do, face, fear, or desire every single day. I tried to bring the big questions and my life together as an artist. But it was in Trungpa, Rinpoche, that I finally saw a man whose every gesture, word and deed was utterly complete and reflected the whole universe at the same time. Through Trungpa's life, Crazy Wisdom will try to unravel the puzzle of Buddhism and why a non-theistic religion that is based on meditation and egolessness would attract so many busy, aggressive, materialistic people.
