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

Colour:

Colour (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:

In the scene where Heinrich confronts Ngawang, the director did not tell B.D. Wong the script called for Brad Pitt to throw him into the dirt; Wong's reaction is completely authentic.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Heinrich Harrer uses a globe to explain time zones to the young Dalai Lama, he spins the globe the wrong way (clockwise - from East to West), and says "So if the sun is just rising in Lhasa, that means it is just setting in New York City, perhaps." But the Earth spins counterclockwise, and Harrer should have spun the globe the other way, saying "So if the sun is already setting in Lhasa, that means it is just rising in New York City, perhaps." Another possible correct statement would be to say "So if the sun is just rising in Lhasa, that means it is just setting in New York City yesterday, perhaps."

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 Love Actually (2003)

Soundtrack:

Clair de Lune

An Underrated Pleasure

"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?