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Seven Years in Tibet (1997) More at IMDbPro »

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95 comments in total

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86 out of 98 people found the following comment useful :-
A moving, well-crafted, and visually breathtaking film, 9 May 2004

Author: kaos-23 from United Kingdom

First of all, Seven Years In Tibet is a very aesthetically pleasing film. The snowy Himalayas, the Tibetan villages, and the amazing costumes and religious ceremonies are all filmed beautifully, with rich colours and lighting. The music by John Williams is also excellent, and it's fascinating to hear how it blends with the unusual Tibetan music.

It's not all surface though, there's depth here too. Don't believe the negative comments about Brad Pitt's acting. Admittedly his accent slips a bit in places, but he does a great job as Heinrich, both the unpleasant, arrogant character at the beginning, and the more gentle and wise man that he becomes as the film progresses. His relationship with the young Dalai Lama (a very impressive actor) is an unusual one and refreshingly unsentimental. The film is well edited; scenes are not drawn out any longer than they need to be. As a whole, it is fast paced but also peaceful, tender and moving. You don't get bored but you're not bombarded with pointless action scenes either.

It's a pleasant surprise to see a Hollywood film where women and other cultures aren't treated as objects, and are allowed to be full, complex characters. It could be argued that this film has a Western perspective, but after all, it is adapted from a book written by a European living in Tibet, and intended for Western audiences. It treats the Tibetan culture with a great deal of respect, so I don't really see a problem with that. Similarly, those who have complained that it doesn't tell you enough about the Dalai Lama and too much about Heinrich, ultimately it is Heinrich's story, and that is its strength: that it is one man's tale, and not a political polemic. It gives you a great sense of how people's stories intersect and how the whole world is connected.

Overall, an unusual film, very involving and emotional without sentimentality, with wonderful music and outstanding cinematography. Highly recommended.

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45 out of 56 people found the following comment useful :-
A fictionalized historical drama, 23 November 2000

Author: typonaut-2 from PA

Seven Years in Tibet is to the true story what the Sound of Music is to Maria Von Trapp's autobiography. Maria writes in the second volume of her autobiography that she wanted to sue the film makers, and I wonder whether Heinrich feels the same. I thought it was an excellent film that did a great job of conveying accurately what Lhasa looks like, having earlier seen a book of photographs from British expeditions around 1910. And I am glad it generated some sympathy for the plight of the Tibetans. But having since read Heinrich's autobiography, it appears that virtually every event in the movie was made up, including the business with the watch. I don't understand why, because the true story was fascinating, with lots of drama. What is wrong with the minds and egos of people in Hollywood? If they want to completely distort the original facts, don't call it non-fiction.

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30 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
Very Uplifting, 14 April 2005

Author: weasleybludger from United States

I saw this film for the first time last night after hearing a great many people recommend it to me. I don't know why I waited so long! This is a soul stirring movie that is perfect in its simplicity. I don't think it's the best performance Brad Pitt has ever offered, but he was quite good. David Thewlis (an amazing actor who never receives as much praise he deserves) gave a perfect performance. But the real beauty of the film is the Tibetan people and their lifestyle. The cinematography was breathtaking and perfectly matched the mood of the film. I loved this movie so much that I'm going to buy it immediately. I love uplifting epic types of movies and this is truly one of the better ones I've seen in a while. In fact, it's one the better movies I've seen in a while.

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30 out of 39 people found the following comment useful :-
Cinematography is absolutely brilliant, 23 March 2005

Author: ss7229 from United States

This movie has some of the best cinematography I have ever seen. The movie does a great job of showing the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple in Lhasa as well as the rural villages of Tibet. Not to mention the breath taking views of the Himalayas.

Yes, Brad Pitt's accent wasn't exactly his best but it's forgivable when watching the movie. His acting was superb, portraying Heinrich's transition, which is what the movie is all about.

The movie did lack qualities of the book, the ending was totally wrong and somewhat disappointing. And the whole Nazi part in Austria was completely unnecessary.

Besides a few minor details, the movie is well worth the 2 1/2 hours especially if you are interested in the Chinese seizure of Tibet and the Tibetan culture and people.

(Free Tibet!)

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34 out of 49 people found the following comment useful :-
Reaching the Summit of Human Conscience and Consciousness, 22 January 2005

Author: njsolicitor from United States

This is a panoramic film exploring the wilderness of Tibet through the consciousness of an arrogant Austrian climber (Brat Pitt). As Pitt challenges Nanga Parbet, the ninth highest mountain in the world and one of the hardest to climb, the political chaos of late 1930's and 1940's, and his own demons, the nature of mankind is revealed as layers of civilization are peeled to reveal an inner self paradoxically more powerful and yet more vulnerable to the ebb and flow of inhumanity. His own philosophical journey is a reflection of political machinations of the time, the ontogeny recapitulating phylogenetic change of western civilization resulting in a complex modern world forever coiled for violence and warfare.

This film has a European pace unsuitable for those addicted to action figure movies with huge budgets and high body counts. I recommend it as a "good view" similar to a good read.

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19 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
An Underrated Pleasure, 9 February 1999
Author: John Mankin (mankin@rff.org)

"Seven Years in Tibet" was a pleasant surprise. Sporting an Austrian accent that got slammed by some critics, I thought Brad Pitt was pretty good as an arrogant Nazi who finds himself captured by the British during a failed expedition to the Himalayas and is later stranded in Tibet after escaping from a POW camp. He finds his humanity in the forbidden-to-foreigners city of Lhasa, especially after meeting the 14 year old Dalai Lama. Echoes of "Lost Horizon," "The King and I" "Last Emperor" and others abound, but the movie is "old Hollywood" in the best sense with magnificent scenery (widescreen advised: the mountains and countryside of Argentina and Canada stand in for Tibet). The heart of the movie is the relationship between the blond Aryan golden boy and the young "Kundun," with a performance by the young Tibetan actor playing the latter that is so charming he nearly steals the whole film. An engrossing blend of fact and fiction, the picture manages to avoid condescending to the Tibetans and over-reverent preachiness. Wrapped in an excellent production, this epic story makes entertaining viewing. One question: how did the young Dalai Lama come by his love of movies in that remote location?

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14 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent, 13 April 2006

Author: Pookyiscute from Nyiregyhaza, Hungary

This masterpiece, still makes me curious every time I see it. Brad Pitt does an amazing job portraying an Austrian, even down to his accent. The cinematography is extraordinary, and the direction is quite good. I love watching it every so often, and learning new things that I missed the times before.

The film has a great amount of interesting facts, and takes place in the 1930's through '50's. There are times when it is; magical, spiritual, enlightening, sweet, sad and poignant.

I recommend it to anyone who enjoys interesting and true stories. If nothing else watch Pitt with his masterful portrayal of this real life character, who faces hardships, physically, spiritually and emotionally.

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23 out of 37 people found the following comment useful :-
Too long but still worth it, 27 February 1999

Author: Sean Gallagher (naes@cgocable.net) from Oakville, Ont. Canada

The main problem with this film, and indeed with many films set in the outdoors, is that it's too long. Maybe it's because I'm a product of the city and the suburbs, but to me, most movies set in the outdoors that don't use the scenery to advance the plot or set the mood, but rather just want to gaze at it, bore me quickly. It's like, "Yes, it's beautiful, let's move on." Also, though I like Brad Pitt, he doesn't always do the job with his Austrian accent; even when he gets it down, you're always thinking, "That's Brad Pitt doing an Austrian accent," rather than, "That's Heinrich Harrer." And that whole subplot about Harrer missing the son he's never seen doesn't work.

Still, there is much to like in this film. In many of these "white men in strange country" movies, the emphasis is on what the white man teaches the people in the other country, and that's somewhat condescending; here, it's on what the people in the other country teach Harrer, yet his story isn't made more important than the story of the Tibet people. Also, though his accent doesn't convince, Pitt is convincing as Harrer in the physical sense; he looks like a former skier and like the blond, blue-eyed ideal of the Nazis. And finally, he's convincing in taking us through Harrer's transformation.

Two more things; one, someone in their comments wondered how the Dalai Lama knew so much about Western culture. According to the book, Harrer found the Dalai Lama to be quite curious about the world around him, so he studied what he could. Also, the film meets head-on the controversy about Harrer being a former Nazi; it doesn't soft-pedal his past at all, which makes his transformation that much more convincing.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
At the end of the world his real journey began., 6 February 2006

Author: Jessica Kolk from Brazil

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

'Seven Years in Tibet'is one of the greatest movies I already watched in my life,specially because it is based in a real story.

Austria,1939. Heinrich Harrer is having a discussion with his wife,Ingrid Harrer,because she does not want him to go to the Himalayas,since she is pregnant and feeling lonely. Henrich is a rude,impatient and insensible man,but also a famous mountain climber who is a hero for the Nazi propaganda. He is going to climb Mt. Nanga Parbat at the Himalayas with Peter Aufschnaiter(the expedition's leader) and other men.

Months passed and they finally reach Nanga Parbat,defined by his own words 'as a national obsession'.Because of his proud personality,Heinrich had problems with Peter during the expedition Saddly,the expedition failed because of avalanches,and since they are in war times,Heinrich and his team were all made prisoners from the British,since all enemy allies from Germany are enemies from the British Empire.(what means Austria,Heinrich's country)

They manage to scape,and Peter and Heinrich has success in entering in Lhasa,the Forbidden city of Tibet where Dalai Lama lived. There,he will make friendship with Dalai Lama and learn important lessons for his life,what will make him a better person.

aka "Sete Anos no Tibet" - Brazil

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15 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
If it hadn't been that unnecessarily long, this would have been a masterpiece, 31 January 2005

Author: Philip Van der Veken from Tessenderlo, Belgium

It's too bad that the movie had to be 139 minutes long. It's not that I can't handle movies that are that long, but when watching longer movies, I expect that it has something to say during that extra time and that's where it sometimes went wrong with "Seven Years in Tibet". It just seemed to keep dragging on forever without contributing to the story.

It needs about 2/3 of the time to show what a bad guy Heinrich Harrer actually is and only 1/3 of the time to show how he changes and gradually becomes a good man. All he thinks about is his career as a mountain climber. In 1939, just before World War II, his wife is pregnant with their first child. Harrer doesn't want to take up his responsibility and 'flees' from her by going to Tibet, where he will try to conquer Mount Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas. Because he is an Austrian and because the Nazi's already have taken over power in Austria, they will use his successes to prove that the Germans are the best race (I hope I don't have to explain the entire Nazi ideology to you, but that you paid enough attention during history class). During his attempt to reach the summit he is arrested by the British and taken to a POW-camp. After several attempts to escape he finally succeeds and together with Peter Aufschnaiter he succeeds to reach Tibet. First he is his old, bad self, but gradually he changes his lifestyle and becomes more 'Tibetan'. He even knows to get the attention of the very young Dalai Lama and becomes friends with him during the period that the Chinese took over power in Tibet.

I don't know if all that is shown in this movie actually happened or to which extent some parts have been made up. Of course it is all a bit politically 'colored' (the Tibetan question is still not solved until today and so there will always be people who will choose China's side and say that what is shown here is completely wrong), but that doesn't mean that this movie doesn't carry a powerful message. But even without this message of being a good husband and not being a career driven jerk, the philosophical Tibetan approach to problems... this movie is very nice eye candy. The landscapes are absolutely stunning and Tibet really looks like a place that certainly is worth a visit. The acting is very good and it all looks very believable.

So despite the fact that this movie dragged on from time to time and that it should have been a bit shorter, this still is a very nice film. I give it a 7/10, perhaps even a 7.5/10.

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