`FREE TIBET' CONCERT FILM DOESN'T SUCCEED WITH MUSIC OR MESSAGE.

Byline: Lawrence Van Gelder The New York Times

As good causes go, surely Tibet ranks high among those who cherish liberty. Since the early 1950s, the country's nonviolent culture has been subjugated by China, which ended less than 40 years of Tibetan independence and reasserted claims of sovereignty that extended back several centuries. As a result, the Dalai Lama lives in exile in India with thousands of refugees. And Buddhist monks and nuns attest to imprisonment, torture, beatings, rapes and executions by the Chinese.

But good causes do not always make good films. The latest illustration of that proposition is ``Free Tibet,'' a documentary that must be judged as a lightweight, candy-coated introduction to its subject.

The film, directed by Sarah Pirozek, is built around the Tibetan Freedom Concert, said to have drawn more than 100,000 people to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco over two days in June 1996. With popular performers like A Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, Bjork, Foo Fighters, Fugees, John Lee Hooker, Pavement, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sonic Youth, the idea was not simply to entertain but to heighten awareness of the situation in Tibet.

``Free Tibet'' intersperses snippets of performance, moshing and other crowd reactions with an educational narration, historical and contemporary film clips, interviews with the Dalai Lama and survivors of imprisonment and brutality, and comments by the musicians and members of the audience. The film is a production of the Milarepa Fund, described in publicity material as ``the nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting nonviolence and compassion that was founded by Erin Potts and Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch.''

But torn between the music and its cause, ``Free Tibet'' is unlikely to fully satisfy those who seek it out for either entertainment or enlightenment. It is understandably filled with the testimony and sentiments of partisans because it aims to mobilize American opposition to repression in Tibet as powerful as that applied to apartheid in South Africa. But the film lacks a dispassionate yet informed voice to shed meaningful light on the geopolitics of its subject.

Worse yet, the well-meaning musicians who lend their talents to the consciousness-raising concert display a woeful lack of eloquence and coherence when given the opportunity on film to rally support.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Free Tibet'' (not rated).

The stars: A Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, Beck, Bjork, Foo Fighters, Fugees, John Lee Hooker, Pavement, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sonic Youth.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Sarah Pirozek. Produced by the Milarepa Fund. Released by the Shooting Gallery.

Running time: One hour, 30 minutes.

Playing: Showcase, Hollywood.

Our rating: Two Stars.