Film Review: “Wisdom of Happiness”

By Morgan Roberts

Directors: Barbara Miller and Philip Delaquis
Year: 2025
Runtime: 90 minutes

What is true happiness? And can we ever really achieve it? In their latest film, “Wisdom of Happiness,” filmmakers Philip Delaquis and Barbara Miller interview the Dalai Lama as he reflects on his life, the world around us, and how the peace and happiness are never out of reach.

Anchored by an interview with the Dalai Lama, the film explores his life and teachings. At the time, in his mid-80s, the Dalai Lama brings extreme candor and reflection when discussing his early life. The events of his life including his education as a spiritual leader, his escape to India, and his life in exile. What the film offers is a far more personal conversation about his parents. The Dalai Lama describes his parents in their different natures, and how he possessed the stubbornness and sternness of his father and learned to strive for the patience and compassion of his mother. There is a humanization that the film brings, but allowing the Dalai Lama to reflect on his upbringing, his parents and those relationships. It demystifies this spiritual leader, allowing him the opportunity to speak to audiences, as if it is two people in conversation.

Image courtesy of Music Box Film

“Wisdom of Happiness” also includes numerous never-before-seen archival photographs and videos of the Dalai Lama. These images enhance this grounded, humanistic themes of the film. The archival footage feels personal and intimate, like someone sharing their own childhood photographs. During my interview with Barbara Miller, I also learned that the filmmaking team digitalized the archival footage they found, preserving this history. There are many things that can be said about the film’s themes, the existential nature of the Dalai Lama, and the through lines in the documentary, but there is an important preservation conversation element to this film. How we learn from our past is determined by the first-hand sources we retain. The way in which this film is not only a portrait of this spiritual leader, but creating a historical documentation of this man’s lived experience - particularly as he began living in exile in India. This added layer to the film feels pertinent in this day and age when films and histories cane easily be erased from the world.

Also reflective of the world we live in, the Dalai Lama’s philosophies ring true. The film is not flashy. Its simplicity is its strength, because it allows the Dalai Lama’s words to take center stage. His ideas can refract from every frame, causing audiences to ponder their own journeys with happiness. Unlike other spiritual leaders, there is no proselytizing but rather an aim for connection. The Dalai Lama’s humility reverberates throughout the film, calling on audiences to reflect on their own lives. There are times the film feels less like a documentary and more like a spiritual lecture unfolding before your eyes.

“Wisdom of Happiness” is a profound and deeply personal film. Less of a biographical documentary, and more focused on its subject’s philosophies, the film examines the life and wisdom of the Dalai Lama through his own words.

Grade: B+
Pair This Film With: “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” (2023) dir. Anna Hints