The final film in the Beehive trilogy, Children of the Great Buddha chronicles war orphans working as tour guides among the looming statues and temples of Japan’s ancient capital of Nara.

The trio in their 30s ― Naka Ai, Imura Kasumi, and Morisaki Reiko, ― make up Sanjoudou, a wooden Buddha restoration workshop. They set it up seven years ago to help protect Japan's cultural ...