5/5 Siddartha
  by Ludwig Ostfeld (Connecticut, USA)
This movie is a fine rendering of the book written by Herman Hesse. The cinematography is incredible. I love the story, it's one of my favorites.

4/5 As a Buddhist
  by Bartok Kinski (Prague)
As a Buddhist and a fan of the book this film was very well done.

As a Buddhist (poverty vows), I can not purchase the DVD.

But as a fan of Mr. Hesse's novel, I can purchase the DVD with a wheelbarrow of German money.

5/5 For seekers of Truth
  by Paul Keeper (Berry Creek, CA. United States)
I am a long time seeker of Truth and Siddartha delivers an excellent example of Life's ultimate quest culminating in profound understanding. Those who gave this movie 1-4 stars, simply aren't ready to understand what this movie contains. It hits the bulls-eye on every level and is quite capable of introducing the viewer to the deepest and most profound Truths of life. It is not the movies fault if the viewer is incapable of appreciating those Truths. For those who have the maturity in knowing the basic underlying realities of life and the deeper laws which guide it, this movie will not disappoint. I suggest that you watch this movie at least once a year and if you are growing mentally, emotionally and spiritually, you will see that this movie reveals more and more to you over the years...such is it's depth and deliverance of eternal Truth. I collect DVDs that give inspiration, insight, courage, humor and appreciation of life and this movie ranks at the top of that collection. Some of those movies are: "Little Miss Sunshine", "Milarepa", "Never Cry Wolf", "Outsourced", "Pulp Fiction", " Pale Rider"," Flywheel", "Fireproof", "Facing The Giants", "Treasure of the Sierra Madrea"," Whale Rider","Ghost Busters", "Modern Times", "The Great Dictator", "Amer. Graffiti","The Gold Rush","Far And Away", "Romeo and Juliet", "Hamlet", "Man of La Mancha", and many others. I highly recommend Siddartha even if it takes awhile for one to fully appreciate it's depth, I tell you, it's really everything you need to know about life - the rest is simply realizing it by practicing the understandings/truths/wisdom, offered.

5/5 Nobel prize winning novel gets a news look!
  by Peter Pratir
This is an excellent portrayal of Buddhism and Hinduism filmed at breat-taking locales of India, a must see!!!

3/5 Lovely cinematography doesn't save a poor adaptation
  by ShriDurga (Japan)
Director Conrad Rooks was something of a sensation in the 1970's, the son of the Avon cosmetics empire and an alcoholic by the age of 15, he also spent a number of years in India and taught himself film-making. Besides his autobiographical 1966 movie, Chappaqua, his adaptation of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha was his one and only cinematic achievement. Today he is largely forgotten. As of this writing he doesn't even have an entry in Wikipedia.

But Siddhartha lives on as a literary classic and as a result the film is still sought out by loyal and often fanatical fans of the book. A quarter century later it is still a visually beautiful film, one that can impress, especially on a large screen, with its panoramic shots. Brooks knew India and his familiarity with the place shines through in the film.

The acting is not bad, but on occasion overdone, such as the boatman's homilies delivered in a patronizingly saccharine voice. The script is occasionally clunky, lifting bits straight from the book, and in parts the story seems a bit rushed. The middle section - in which Siddhartha meets Kamala, moves to town, and becomes a local businessman - has the most natural and unhurried flow. Two decades on the sex scenes are not unsurprisingly tame - and occasionally comical (such as Siddhartha's first orgasm).

The biggest problem with the film is that it leaves out what is for me one of the most meaningful observations of Siddhartha's life, that his time as a husband and father, as a property owner and businessman, was not wasted time. On the contrary, he could not have arrived at enlightenment without having experienced a life of sensual pleasure - and despair. As Siddhartha tells his friend Govinda many years later:

"I learned through my body and soul that it was necessary for me to sin, that I needed lust, that I had to strive for property and experience nausea and the depths of despair in order to learn not to resist them, in order to learn to love the world, and no longer compare it with some kind of desired imaginary world, some imaginary vision of perfection, but to leave it as it is, to love it and be glad to belong to it."

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