Seven Years in Tibet

Rating:
Summary: Respectful, visually stunning tribute to Tibetan culture
Review: The only thing more beautiful than Brad Pitt in Jean-Jacques Annaud's low-key drama "Seven Years in Tibet" (1997) is the astonishing location photography (Argentina, Canada, Austria and the Himalayas standing in for Tibet), rendered in glorious Panavision widescreen by Robert Fraisse and preserved with stunning clarity on this eye-popping DVD. Pitt, every inch the blond Aryan god, plays real life explorer Heinrich Harrer (on whose book this film is based), an arrogant Nazi bully who ran from his wife's unhappy pregnancy to conquer the Himalayas toward the end of the 1930's. Stranded there by the outbreak of World War II, Harrer found his way to the forbidden city of Lhasa, where his unexpected friendship with the teenage Dalai Lama (played with great warmth and sincerity by non-actor Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk) curbed his ruthless streak and provided him with a fresh outloook on life, until he was forced to flee the country following the Chinese invasion.

Suffering from unfair comparisons with Martin Scorsese's "Kundun" (1997), which opened shortly afterward - both movies were denounced by mainland Chinese officials - Annaud's film evokes the splendors of a remote mountain community founded exclusively on Buddhist principles (in an amusing sequence, Pitt is asked to build a movie theater without killing the hundreds of worms uncovered by his workers' excavations). It may be a Hollywoodized vision, but it's also respectful and, in places, deeply moving ("Do you think someday people will look at Tibet on a movie screen and wonder what happened to us?" the Dalai Lama asks Pitt in one of the movie's most self-referential moments). When Chinese troops invade the Tibetan stronghold towards the end of the film, they display all the arrogance and hostility which had typified Harrer's behavior until he was transformed by the example of his gracious hosts. Distinguished by John Williams' majestic score (so much better than the tuneless dirge he provided for "Sleepers" the previous year), the film also features David Thewlis ("Naked") as Pitt's climbing partner, Lhakpa Tsamchoe as the beautiful woman who comes between them for a while, and B.D. Wong as a lowly Tibetan official whose vanity and cowardice prompts the downfall of his own culture.

Columbia Tristar's dual-sided DVD runs 135m 56s and features both a full-screen and widescreen (2.35:1, anamorphically enhanced) version - for maximum visual impact, try to see it on a 16:9 monitor. Released theatrically in a choice of Dolby Digital or SDDS, the disc's 5.1 Dolby track has plenty of energy where needed, but the sound mix is fairly subdued overall. There's also a 2.0 surround track, equally restrained. English captions and subtitles are included, but due to the film's length, no other extras have been provided, not even a trailer.

Rating:
Summary: An Austrian teacher for the young Dalai Lama
Review: This is the true story of an Austrian mountain climber, played by Brad Pit, who left Austria in 1939 in a mountain climbing expedition for the glory of Germany. Captured by the British, and after spending two years in a British prison camp in India, he and a friend, played by David Thewlis, escape and finally wind up in Tibet. Here, Brad Pitt, becomes the teacher of the young Dalai Lama and learns humility.

When this movie was released, it stayed in the theaters for such a short time that I never got a chance to see it. Reviews were bad. It was called too long, too boring, and badly scripted. However, someone I know who had actually lived in Tibet recommended it. I am always intrigued by places of the world that I know little or nothing about. And so I was glad that this film is available on video.

I was pleasantly surprised. And not at all bored, even though the movie is 136 minutes long. It takes at least an hour for Brad Pitt to even get to Tibet and there are a lot of scenes involving mountain climbing and a long trek through the Himalayas. I understand the movie was actually filmed in the Andes, but it didn't matter to me. I was impressed with the scenery, the photography, the vistas. I was especially impressed with the human endurance to keep going. I was less impressed with Brad Pitt's acting. He doesn't seem to be able to portray subtle emotions. Most of the time, the audience is left to guess just what is going on iside of him. Not so with his supporting teammate, David Thewlis. This actor has a greater range and emerges more real than the wooden Pitt. The teenage Dalai Lama is wonderful. He has a way of smiling, of opening his eyes wide, of showing both childlike and mature emotions that mark him as a true professional. Hopefully, we'll see him again some time, but this movie is so specific that this might be his one-picture glory.

I learned something about Tibet, about the Tibetan people. Their plight is now real to me. They are under Chinese rule, an old story of a weak people being conquered by the strong. I recommend this video. It's a welcome change of pace. You'll learn something about Tibet. And meet a bright young actor named Janyang Jamtsho Wangchuck who plays the Dalai Lama. Just make sure you give yourself enough time to get into it. It's worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Where lies the truth?
Review: I haven't read the book of the same title by Mr. Harrer, but have seen the film twice, once in English and later dubbed in German. I liked it very much, and so did my sons. Watching it the second time on Austrian TV had the advantage afterward of seeing an interview with Mr. Harrer by a female journalist who questioned him pretty hard about the facts.

The film is taken from Mr. Harrer's popular 1952 book of the same title, describing his personal experience in India and Tibet. In the interview he stated that, for an American film, he likes it, likes the way it portrays Tibet, and has seen the film about a dozen times. His friendship with the 'Dalai Lama' (a western title unknown in Tibet) still stands, that they speak largely Tibetan with each other whenever they meet (the Dalai Lama likes Austrian food, and Mr. Harrer said that the Tibetan kitchen is also very good). In response to the questioner's attempt to find weaknesses in the film, Mr. Harrer said mainly that the film does not really give the sense of the hardship and adventure of surviving in the mountains all the way to Llasa (I believe it!), that their experience was far more 'abenteurlich' than is portrayed. So, according to the interview, the film is largely faithful to the facts, grossly seen, including the end scene of Harrer with his son planting a Tibetan flag on an Austrian peak.

Finally, the interviewer asked Mr. Harrer about the '97 Stern magazine article uncovering his Nazi past. This is where my problems begin in reviewing this film. The film is not about Brad Pitt, who is completely irelevant, the film is about Heinrich Harrer. I have a severe problem with films and novels that are not true to history. As one of the earlier Popes said, one should tell the truth even if it causes a scandal.

Mr. Harrer spoke in the TV interview of having 'mitgemacht' (participated) with the Nazis, and that he very much regrets it. An open admission of a very bad choice is a good sign. His expression and words had the ring of thoughtfulness, not of having been cooked. But why did he agree to a whitewash in the film until the Stern article appeared, and why was the past not accurately portrayed in his book?

Meanwhile, I have read the 1997 Stern article. According to that article, papers in the government archive in Berlin show that Mr. Harrer had joined both the SA and SS, which was a big step beyond the then then-standard required participation of teenagers with the Hitlerjugend. Apparently, Mr. Harrer regrets and rejects his early terrible choices, but Hollywood directors should not use a good story to make a film without first establishing the facts. Harrer's and Aufschneiter's Nazi affiliations were brought into the American-made film only after German journalists made public pressure by writing the facts in a German magazine. Germany was occupied by Allied forces until the mid-ninties. American bases still persist in Germany from that period. Historic responsibility for the Holocaust is taught in German public schools. Therefore it is not an accident that sharp reporters smelled something and went after it.

I plan to read Mr. Harrer's book. I would like to know his account of how he and his partner survived in the Himalayas during their escape from the British prison, and how they came to terms with learning to speak Tibetan in Llasa. That it was a great adventure is beyond question. That the SA and SS performed savage criminal acts under completely psychopathic leaders is also beyond question. Kristalnacht took place in 1938, street battles with guns took place between the SA and armed socialist paramilitary groups in the early thirties, and Hitler had long before that published Mein Kampf in the twenties. No one from that period can convincingly claim to have been ignorant of the intentions of Hitler and his Nazis.

In any case, that doesn't take away from the extraordinary adventure that Mr. Harrer tells us about. Will be interesting to read his book and compare with Elliot's "An Unexpected light: Travels in Afghanistan".

Rating:
Summary: Long, but worthwhile
Review: Surprisingly enough, Brad Pitt didn't compromise this film! I always question the use of big name actors in important movies. Yes, I consider this to be an important movie. Every time I watch it, I am overcome with the beauty and tragedy of Tibet, the wondrous mystery of Tibetan Buddhism and the life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It's a true account, which chronicles the experiences of Heinrich Harrer. His transformation parallels that of the Tibetans who regularly make the pilgrimage to Lhasa for spiritual purification. This DVD has no extras at all, but worth the price for the film alone. The transfer to digital is good. It would've been nice to have some information on the true account of Harrer as well as info on the Chinese occupation of Tibet. You might also wish to check out the soundtrack featuring Yo-Yo Ma.

Rating:
Summary: Dedicated to the people of Tibet
Review: This review is dedicated to the people of Tibet , and the dream that one day Tibet may be free of the detestable Red Chinese occupation.
It is a brilliant movie , which shows the beautiful and peaceful Tibetan culture ,and then focuses on how it is cruelly destroyed by Mao's unspeakable regime.
It also focuses on the life of Austrian mountain climber Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt) focusing on how an arrogant and self-indulgent man learns humility and decency from Tibet , and from the boy Dalai Lama who was to become one of the greatest men of our time.
It begins in Nazi occupied Austria in 1939 . Harrer leaves to climb mountains ends up in Lhasa ,Tibet. Here we view a land of peace and spiritual enlightenment , such a contrast from a Europe which at the time was going through World War II and the Holocaust. After the end of World War II and the Third Reich , we see another monstrous tyranny ,Communist China emerge .Red China visits unspeakable horrors on peaceful Tibet , and they treat the pleas of the Dalai Lama for peace , with more and more terror.
It is interesting to see towards the end of the movie how the Red Chinese flag and portraits of Mao defacing Tibet in 1951 mirror those of the Swastika , and portraits of Hitler , at the beginning of the movie , defacing Europe in 1939.
Unfortunately Tibet is now largely forgotten by the world , and one wonders when the world will speak up against this diabolical occupation.

Rating:
Summary: A White Silk Scarf
Review: This is a story about a stubborn and arrogant man who needs to push his body to its absolute limits, but who dedicates very little of his energy to his soul or intellect. Let us remember that films owe no debt to the books or the reality on which they are based (read the book "Monster" by the late screenwriter and author John Gregory Dunne if you need to get that straight).

Brad Pitt is not too bad as Heinrich Harrer, but you may cringe occasionally at his Austrian accent. Let us remember that this film may not have been made at all without his interest and participation, and it wouldn't have been permitted the sort of budget that gave us the amazing landscapes which pervade the movie.

I suppose once they had their big star, casting went for the very finest actors they could find regardless of their status: therefore, we have two beautifully resonant performances by David Thewlis as Pitt's climbing companion and Lhapka Tsamchoe as the Love Interest.

Because this movie is about Heinrich Harrer, not the Dalai Lama, we ought not to whine about the time spent in the camp for enemy aliens (those were YEARS of his life) or the difficult scrabble to simply exist once he escaped. The shots of the Dalai Lama's early childhood are there not only to foreshadow the important role the Dalai Lama ultimately plays, but also to establish a link between the child who will befriend Harrer and the son who Harrer does not know.

The authenticity and detail of Tibetan life, dress, buildings, and so forth is rare and overwhelming. Even if it was staged, it is a good record of a lost time.

With respect to the Chinese invasion as it is filmed, let us recall what "virtues" were instilled in the Army of the People's Republic of China. If the soldiers behaved like "automatons" or "killing machines", that was precisely the point. Leaders rarely want their underlings to think for themselves, and in Communist China such an activity was a capital offense. I see no disregard of history.

Further praise to the screenwriter (Becky Johnston) who translated a good book into a good movie. The addition of a few good laugh lines and the general development of character was well done.

Heinrich Harrer is an interesting man and merits a movie about his life. Of course, the elements of living in Tibet and developing a friendship with the Dalai Lama are crucial to the interest. For my part, I've watched the movie several times not just for its other virtues, but because I get deliciously lost in the scenery.

Rating:
Summary: A waste at seven minutes...
Review: This is supposedly the true story of Heinrich Harrer, the German mountain climber captured by the British during a failed attempt to scale the famed peak of Nanga Parbat at the outbreak of WWII. Escaping from a British-run POW camp, Harrer links up with fellow climber and escapee Peter Aufschnaiter and the two troll around the Himalayas looking for food, but not much else. Eventually, the two manage to enter Tibet and, by June of 1944, the city of Lhasa - significant since both are closed to foreigners. Finding asylum with the court of the then 14 year old Dalai Lama, Harrer and Aufschnaiter settle down and try to create new lives. With the end of the war, however, comes a new danger: Red China. Consolidating their rule, the communists invade and annex Tibet, a military exercise that claims untold number of Tibetans and ends Tibet's autonomy.

A worthwhile subject, but still a horrible movie, the perfect example of what happens when Hollywood gets its paws on a story that deserves to be told. First, the acting. David Thewlis is acceptable as Harrer's comrade, while BD Wong is laughably suspect as the Tibetan minister Ngawang Jigme who sells the country out to the Chinese. There is no stand-out performance except for Brad Pitt as Harrer - which has to be the single worst performance for an A-list actor of any year. An incredibly fake German accent adds further lead to Pitt's already overweight delivery. The script bravely makes Pitt an unlikable, selfish and dishonest lout (wandering the Himalayas in starvation with Aufschnaiter, Harrer convinces Aufschnaiter to sell his last watch for food - though Harrer has several watches of his own.) redeemed by the spiritual purity and divine honesty of Tibetan culture. Only, the script never gets as far as redeeming Harrer before the Chinese enter the picture and give the story something bigger to fear and loathe. (In one nightmarish yet implausible scene, a column of Chinese infantry routs a pitifully small Tibetan force; in the night, the column resembles something of an armored Chinese dragon that spits automatic gunfire from every side) Though Harrer remains as unlikable as ever, the invasions allows the script to canonize him for thinking just what most Tibetans must have been thinking - those Red Chinese can't be doing us any good. Harrer doesn't really do anything, but the script makes the remaining tibetans so helpless that his recognition of the Chinese menace elevates him to heroic. As a cry for the Tibetans, "Seven Years" deserves no accolades - the film delves barely into just what the Chinese have done to Tibet other than invade it (an ominous message at the end claims that many Tibetan lives were lost as a result of China's invasion, but doesn't say how. Harrer decides to escape the invaded Tibet and amnages to make his way home without any trouble). Otherwise, the Chinese themselves are simply louts - bigger, more heavily armed and numerous than Harrer (inspecting Chinese generals contemptuously stamp Tibetan sand art). The script assumes that western audiences are as familiar with the Tibetan experience as they are with those witnessed by large numbers of westerners - like the world wars, the holocaust, the depression, etc - but we're not. To heap further indignity, the film essentially hijacks the plight of the Tibetans - what purports to be a story of the Tibetan suffering remains second place to Harrer's constant brooding. The Tibetan characters are largely anonymous in a story set in Tibet. If not for the Chinese, Harrer would have nothing to think about besides himself. Ofcourse the Tibetans (the Dalai Lama himself) look up to Harrer and Aufschnaiter as gods. What a perfect example for the Politically Correct to prove the snobbery of the west. By the end of the film, you'll feel like you've spent seven years in your chair, and are none the better for it.

Rating:
Summary: Ironic issue
Review: The fact is simple that most of Americans know nothing about Tibet.

This country liberated itself from Britain but inherited many colonial scars from Britan as the Tibitan issue.

This country fought a civil war for slavery, but unconciously sympathetic to the ghost of the most notorious slavery society: Dalai Lama.

What an irony!

Pitt seems brighter than the Play Girl icon and religion-lost R. Gear, but his taking of this role appears culturely illiterate.

Rating:
Summary: propaganda
Review: This film is a kind of propaganda. Historycally and oviously, Tibet has been a part of China for a thousand years and Tibetean is one of Chinese group. Now Tibetian redidents create great culture and Chinese people respect them.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Film
Review: Seven Years in Tibet is one of my favorite movies of all time (next to The Godfather). The photography is beautiful and the story engaging. The fact that it may not be historically accurate doesn't take away the enertainment value.

Brad Pitt gives a fine performance, (he does a pretty good Austrian accent,) and this is saying a lot considering I've never been a huge fan. I believe part of what made this movie so engaging was its location. Tibet being such a secluded place, and Lhasa even more so, the depiction of it before oppression by the Chinese gave me a better understanding of just what was lost.

I'd recommend this movie to anyone.