听 
A raging and ragged polemic, "In the Name of Buddha" tackles very worthy subject matter.
Since 1983, ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka has led - according to UN figures - to 60,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the island.
Many of these wash up in Britain, much to the Daily Mail's chagrin. One such refugee is Siva (Shiju), who arrives at Heathrow Airport and is stuck explaining himself to an immigration officer.
Flashing back to his point of origin, we're shown the relentless persecution and violence his family has suffered, as the freedom fighters/terrorists of the Tamil Tigers fight for independence against the Sri Lankan army.
Unsparing in its depiction of the brutality of Sri Lankan life, Rajesh Touchriver's film has caused controversy, with accusations that it has an anti-Buddhist, pro-Tamil agenda.
However, it takes great pains to damn universally, with a particularly negative portrayal of a Tamil military leader, whose "ends justifies the means" attitude is appalling.
A more valid criticism is that, while Touchriver tries to inform, he does little to entertain.
Siva is little more than a mouthpiece for the writer-director's political monologues, with the young student haranguing anyone who'll listen with his "war is bad" message.
The dialogue is sometimes embarrassingly clunky (although this may be down to poor subtitle translation), and the production values low. (The Heathrow scenes were clearly shot on the hoof, with members of the public peering at the camera and children waving at it.) The combat sequences, meanwhile, would be regarded as risible in a Hollywood production.
An exercise in celluloid pamphleteering, it lacks the lyricism or subtlety of the similarly themed "The Terrorist", but is partly redeemed by a heartfelt quality.
Angry and amateurish, it is also wildly ambitious - the closing caption reads: "May this film bring peace to the island."
In Tamil with English subtitles.
