Latest news with #reincarnation
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
The Documentary Podcast Reworking a future: Buddhist revival in Mongolia
Cambridge anthropologist David Sneath is in Mongolia to find out how Buddhism continues to make a comeback after years of persecution under Communism. David tells the story of how a young Mongolian boy has recently been recognised as the new reincarnation in a lineage of major Buddhist leaders, once known in the country as 'Holy Emperor'. The 10-year-old boy will, when formally enthroned, be considered the 10th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu in a lineage stretching back centuries. The Jebtsundamba Khutughtu (widely known to Mongolians as the 'Bogd') is a leader of the Gelugpa School within the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and the young boy was officially recognised by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan religious leader. David meets the boy's mother, religious leaders and leading cultural figures to find out what is in store for the young Bogd. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Heart and Soul, exploring personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.
The Review Geek
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
Heavenly Ever After – K-drama Episode 12 Recap, Review & Ending Explained
Episode 12 Episode 12 of Heavenly Ever After begins with Nak-jun returning to Earth in a new role: erasing people's memories of their past lives. Excited about his new job, he shares the news with Hae-suk. The next day, Hae-suk's lottery-winning dream is set to be broadcast. She appears in Young-ae's dream and tries to get her to memorize the winning numbers, but her efforts fail. Nak-jun steps in to help, creating a clever mnemonic to help Young-ae remember them. After the dream ends, Young-ae wakes up ready to play the numbers the next day, but just as she's about to do so, she spots a debtor and chases after him. By the time she returns, it's too late to claim the ticket. Despite missing the chance, a new romance seems to be on the horizon for Young-ae, as the debtor turns out to be surprisingly kind and warm toward her. Meanwhile in heaven, Nak-jun and Hae-suk decide to reincarnate as a married couple once again. The next day, King Yeomra of the underworld arrives in heaven while the Heavenly President takes a vacation on Earth, where he begins preaching. During his visit, he fulfills the wishes of struggling people and gives hope to those in despair. In one moment, he sends Jjajang to comfort a woman preparing to take her life. Later, the President meets Nak-jun and cryptically reveals that Nak-jun and Hae-suk have always appeared as married couples across lifetimes, constantly struggling in each reincarnation. Nak-jun returns deeply unsettled. As he and Hae-suk prepare for their final broadcast, which will highlight their married life before reincarnation, the weight of what he's learned lingers. On the day of their reincarnation, they walk together through a symbolic gate and into a beautiful garden, a palace designed for souls with second thoughts to pause before passing through. Just before they reach the final gate, Nak-jun tells Hae-suk the truth about their repeated pasts. He urges her to choose a new path, believing she deserves a chance to live a life that's entirely her own. Tearfully, they part ways. As Hae-suk steps forward, she declares her wish to become an actress. The episode ends with a flash-forward to Hae-suk on her deathbed, having lived out her dream as an actress. Nak-jun arrives to take her back with him, reuniting the couple once more. The Episode Review The Heavenly Ever After finale is disappointingly scattered. Not only does it feel rushed, but much of the episode lacks coherence, and many scenes are either unnecessary or disconnected from the overall narrative. The storytelling leans too heavily on exposition, with major plot points told rather than shown. The introduction of Yeom-ra, for example, serves little to no purpose. The subplot involving Young-ae and the lottery begins with promise but ends abruptly without meaningful resolution. Even more frustrating is the vague reference to Nak-jun and Hae-suk's past lives. The show hints at a deep backstory but never actually shows any of it, leaving viewers with unanswered questions and emotional gaps. Overall, the finale highlights the show's weaknesses: underdeveloped ideas, clumsy pacing, and missed emotional opportunities. What could have been a poignant, heartfelt ending becomes a muddled and unfulfilling close to the story. Previous Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cannes Hidden Gem: ‘A Useful Ghost' Is a Socio-Political Parable Starring a Vacuum Cleaner
A woman dies, only to return in the form of a vacuum cleaner to stay close to, and intimate with, her husband. Yes, you read that right! Thai writer-director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke's A Useful Ghost, world premiering in the Critics' Week lineup in Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, is a ghost story but also so much more. After Nat dies from dust pollution, her husband, March, is consumed by grief. 'His daily life is turned upside down when he discovers his wife's spirit has been reincarnated in a vacuum cleaner,' reads the synopsis for the debut feature from Boonbunchachoke, who makes his living writing for TV and has made short films (Red Aninsri; Or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall). 'As absurd as it seems, their bond is rekindled, stronger than ever. But it is hardly to everyone's liking. His family, still haunted by the accidental death of a factory worker, rejects this supernatural relationship. To prove their love, Nat offers to clean the factory to prove herself a useful ghost, even if that means doing away with some lost souls…' More from The Hollywood Reporter Cannes: 'Militantropos' Directors on Identity and the Limits of Art: "The War Has Become Part of Us" Cannes: Salty Pictures Sets Martial Arts Drama '8 Limbed Dragon,' Starring UFC Fighter Jingliang Li (Exclusive) Ethan Coen, Wife and Writing Partner Tricia Cooke on Lesbian B-Movies, Trump, Re-Teaming With Joel Thai actress, influencer and model Davika Hoorne and Witsarut Himmarat star as the couple in the movie from Bangkok-based 185 Films, on which Best Friends Forever is handling international sales. The ensemble cast also includes Apasiri Nitibhon, Wanlop Rungkumjud, and Wisarut Homhuan. The film is inspired by Mae Nak, a well-known ghost story in Thai folklore. As that story goes, a young woman had undying love for her husband. When she got pregnant, he was sent to war in the Thai army. After getting wounded, he had to be nursed back to health, while his wife and their baby died during childbirth. When the man returned home, he found his loving wife and child waiting for him, ignoring warnings from neighbors that he was living with ghosts. 'It's an iconic character in Thai popular culture, and there have been TV, theater, and other stories about it,' Boonbunchachoke tells THR. 'I'm interested in socio-political issues. So, I tried to look at this story again and look for what I could say about it. And I wondered how ghosts would exist in contemporary society. Do they need to work like a human being to earn a salary? One of the first images for me was the ghost walking into the office. It was matching the legend with the contemporary capitalist world.' The movie is also a plea to not sweep the past under the carpet. 'In Thailand, there is so much history of small people that gets forgotten,' shares Boonbunchachoke. 'People often try to stay away from or exercise ghosts, as if trying to erase a disturbing past. But we should maybe talk more about the past and about this marginalized history, because it could return in a more malicious form. As human beings, maybe we owe ghosts something. We need to listen to them and respond to them.' Shooting the scenes with the vacuum took all sorts of planning. 'We had two models of the vacuum cleaner,' the director explains. 'One had a motor inside so that we could remote control it. But it could just move on the ground, but could not move the hose. In regular scenes, we just decided on one of two trunk positions: heads up [or not]. But movements of the hose needed to be manually handled by three people, and then we deleted that in post-production.' The choice of the vacuum came to Boonbunchachoke as he kept developing the story. 'Initially, I thought she'd appear as a ghost in human form,' he recalls. 'Normally, in cinema, people visualize ghosts in different forms. They just float around or don't have feet. Or they appear as a human, but translucent. Sometimes, they don't appear at all but just manifest through their voice. And in another tradition, the ghost doesn't appear at all but is invisible and moves things in your house.' He ended up liking the idea that the ghost could be in a piece of furniture or an electrical appliance. 'The choice of the vacuum cleaner is related to a very Thai context,' Boonbunchachoke explains. 'Dust pollution is real in Thailand. People have been talking about it for 10 years or so. But 'dust' also has another meaning in [Thai] slang. When you call someone that, it means they are insignificant, like dust – they can be moved, swept up, wiped out by people with power, with authority. So, it means a human who doesn't have power to control their life.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked
