Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Writers (WGA):

Heinrich Harrer (book)
Becky Johnston (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

At the end of the world his real journey began.

Plot:

True story of Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain climber who became friends with the Dalai Lama at the time of China's takeover of Tibet.

Plot Keywords:

Dalai Lama | Austria | Mountain | Himalaya | Tibet

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Brad Pitt	...	Heinrich Harrer
David Thewlis	...	Peter Aufschnaiter
B.D. Wong	...	Ngawang Jigme
Mako	...	Kungo Tsarong
Danny Denzongpa	...	Regent
Victor Wong	...	Chinese 'Amban'
Ingeborga Dapkunaite	...	Ingrid Harrer
Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk	...	Dalai Lama, 14 Years Old
Lhakpa Tsamchoe	...	Pema Lhaki
Jetsun Pema	...	Great Mother
Ama Ashe Dongtse	...	Tashi
Sonam Wangchuk	...	Dalai Lama, 8 Years Old
Dorjee Tsering	...	Dalai Lama, 4 Years Old
Ric Young	...	General Chang Jing Wu
Ngawang Chojor	...	Lord Chamberlain (as Ven. Ngawang Chojor)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violent sequences.

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Mandarin | Tibetan

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Malaysia:U | Brazil:Livre (DVD rating) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Mexico:B | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Mandalay Entertainment

Trivia:

Jetsun Pema is the real-life sister of the Dalai Lama. In this film she plays the mother of the Dalai Lama and hence her own mother.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Negotiators from the Peoples Republic are shown arriving by air. There was no air link until Lhasa Gonggar Airport was constructed in 1956.

Quotes:

Dalai Lama: ...You can not ask a devout people to disregard a precious teaching.
Heinrich Harrer: Yes but Your Holiness, with due respect, erm, we can't possibly
[laughs]
Heinrich Harrer: I'm sorry, but we can't possibly save all the worms! Not if you want a theater in this lifetime.
Dalai Lama: You have a clever mind. Think of a solution. And in the meantime you can explain to me, what is an elevator.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Hide and Seek (#6.19)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Clair de Lune

Pretty Good, DespiteThe Bias

Even though this probably was a just a propaganda piece for the Dali Lama, I found it a surprisingly good story.

Nice to see Brad Pitt in such a restrained role. Unlike Christianity, the religious matter here is treated with reverence by Hollywood but that aside, it remains an interesting story of Henrik Harrer (Pitt) his adventures getting to Tibet with his friend " Peter Aufschnaiter" (David Thewlis) and then his relationship to the young Dali Lama.

The film is as pretty as you would expect from one in such mountainous surroundings . There are really nice colors in here and the movie looks just great on DVD. The story bogs down a bit in places but not for too long as it tells of Harrer's escape from the Western world and from participating in WWII. He winds up spending seven years in Tibet, hence the title.

Finally, I thought the soundtrack was good, too, featuring an instrument I don't know but love its sound. The cinematography in here, and justifiably, gets a lot of attention, but the music is great, too.