"Bernardo Bertolucci's sincere, even rhapsodic, study of Buddhist history and modern–day reincarnation is a visual delight thanks to Vittorio Storaro's exquisite cinematography....Bertolucci has set himself an ambitious agenda: to recount the life of Prince Siddhartha and interweave that legend with a modern–day detective story of sorts about a search for a reincarnated spiritual leader. The theme of psychological doubles which informs many of Bertolucci's pictures here takes on a benevolent tone, and the resulting film emerges as an uncharacteristically apolitical hybrid of children's 'picture–book' and exploration of contemporary cultures."