‘Buddha 2’ is the second film in a Japanese trilogy about Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism.
It is based on the Buddha comic book series by manga master Osamu Tezuka, the creator of world-famous characters like the iconic ‘Astro Boy’. The film’s prequel, ‘Buddha: The Great Departure’, released in 2011, was a worldwide success.
The world premiere took place in the auditorium of Paris’ famous Louvre museum. Toshiaki Komura is the film’s director:
“Compared to the first film, the story is a lot more dramatic and spectacular, there are a lot of unexpected elements in the second film where the character of the Buddha develops and therefore, in terms of the story, the second part is much richer,” he said.
In other cinema news, Jean-Marc Vallée’s eagerly-awaited ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ is on release across Europe.
It is based on the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, a Texas electrician diagnosed with AIDS in 1986, and his battle with the medical establishment and pharmaceutical companies.
The movie has already won several awards and six Oscar nominations, including Best Actor for Matthew McConaughey.
“The gay and lesbian community has received this film very well. I’ve had a lot of people come up that said ‘I remember that time. I lost a brother, I lost a friend who had HIV at that time.’ And it was a time when it was sort of unnamed, I mean, no-one even knew, you know, I look back at the late Eighties, and I look back now and I go ‘huh’. I had a few friends that probably had HIV but wouldn’t say the word or didn’t put the title on it, it was taboo almost,” said the actor.
The movie is also up for Best Film and Best Original Screenplay. At the film’s London premiere, Jared Leto was humble about his Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor:
“I’m assuming that I’m not going to have the opportunity to go up. That’s probably the safe bet if you’re going to assume anything. I’ve got an incredible amount of love and support so far, so I’m not counting on anything. I’m just enjoying the day, the moment, being nominated. I’ll always have that,” said Jared Leto.
The Oscars will be announced in Los Angeles on 2 March.
