Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The first must-see film of the year.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Seven Years in Tibet (1997): Dir: Jean-Jacquacs Annaud / Cast: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, B.D. Wong, Victor Wong, Mako: It seems like it took seven years to view, or perhaps I drifted off to sleep (not difficult under the circumstances) and woke up during the following presentation of the film. Title regards seven years of a man's life and what he turned his back on. Had the director turned his back on this film then perhaps viewers would have been spared the extreme boredom. Set in 1939 Brad Pitt joins an expedition to scale Nanga Parbat. They are taken prisoner by His Majesty's Government in India where Pitt makes several escape attempts with inappropriate comic appeal. One capture takes no more than a quick stabbing then he is off and running again. When in Tibet they compete for a female tailor. Then the Dalai Lama enters the picture etc, etc. Throw in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and this film would be complete. Predictable and disjointed with horrible directing by Jean-Jacquacs Annaud. Pitt is miscast and Thewlis is cardboard. Together they turn in one of their worst performances and are joined by veteran actors B.D. Wong, Mako and Victor Wong who also ought to fire their agents after being part of this crap. Theme regards consequence particularly when Pitt is denounced by his son. Viewers should do the same with the film. Score: 3 / 10

This film succeeded in doing something remarkable, namely, to portray all the main characters in poor light. Far from being faithful to the book (on which it is based) it lowers the stature of Heinrich Harrer, Peter Aufschnaiter and HH the Dalai Lama. Some new dimensions have been introduced being Harrer's longing for his son, a Love triangle, and competitive nature of friendship between Harrer and Aufschnaiter. None of these things were present in the book. Another disappointing part of the movie is that very little coverage has been given to the part describing the duo's escape and subsequent success in entering Tibet.Though, not everything is lost because this film succeeds in attracting international attention to the plight of the Tibetan people and the tragedy that befell Tibet. For this I give it 7 stars.

This is a movie based on a true story about a German mountain climber who hid in Tibet during World War II. Moreso, it is about the final days of the independence of Tibet and more of a protest against China's invasion and war crimes in Tibet. Even with that, the movie focuses on the character and we watch how he changes during the time he spends here, and how he grows to understand himself.The movie begins with him running away from his responsibilities to his wife. His wife is about to have a baby, but he really does not want to be around. Instead he wants to climb Mount Everest and be the first person up there. This attitude ends up pushing his wife further away from him, and he discovers later that when he wants her, she is no longer there to help him.This is important as it develops his character, but moreso it has to do with his son. He is imprisoned in a British POW camp in India and as such he never gets the chance to see his kid. Even though he has no interest in fighting the war, he does not want to be a prisoner either, so he constantly tries to escape, finally succeeding with a larger group, but being a very independent person he insists on going off on his own. But what we learn though is that even though he independent, he also is foolish as he squanders all of his food.Tibet comes into it as he wishes to flee there to escape the British. Even then, the Tibetans do not want them in their land because they are simply foreigners, but they manage to escape there, and soon are welcomed in Tibet, especially since they are dying and hungry.The main changes come when the Dali Llama decides that he wishes to meet with this German. He finds this guy's world interesting, and he comes to see the Dali Llama as the son that he never had, but the thing is that the Dali Llama knows that he is not the guy's son. As their relationship grows, so does his understanding of himself, and in the end he finds the courage to return to Germany and to see his son.It is a long movie, but not only is it insightful, and we begin to feel for the plight of the Tibetans, it is also well made. Many films based on true stories generally fall down, but this is quite well done, and I enjoyed it.

Ever since Ronald Colman raised the bar of expectation by his not so chance encounter with Shangri-La in the 1937 movie rendition of "Lost Horizon", we have been trying to find our way back. Thanks to movies like "Seven years in Tibet", we can focus on the real issues rather than paradise revisited.With the release of the movie version of Heinrich Harrer's "Seven Years in Tibet" we are presented with a different story - one less fairly tale...Jacque Annaud's...film allows us to move away from the fantasy created by "Lost Horizon"... Annaud succeeds in bringing Tibet to life, to make it more human, more real.As much as the story is Harrer's, it seems inevitable that the focus moves away from him and onto the Dalai Lama. The book reads like an outsider looking at things from the outside in. The focus of the book, is all Harrer. Luckily, film has an ability to visualize the books cannot ever provide - a real immediate feel. The movie is everything and it at times almost feels like it will slide into Indiana Jones. However, the power of Tibet saves it. It almost feel like Pitt and Thewlis are out of place. The real stars are the set, the landscape and the Nepalese extras. Filmed everywhere but Tibet, the film does give its western audience a real soft landing, one that they will not get with Scorsese's "Kundun"... Hollywood does need to supply a demand and we demand epic scenes, high priced talent, a sense of the exotic. As if east meets west and the fusion of the two is greater than the sum of the parts. For the attention to detail, I can't help but sing the praises. If you can stomach Pitt's fake Austrian accent, the film is a visual delight. It would be a tempting fantasy to hope that we can preserve it...