Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

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:

136 min

Country:

USA | UK

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: When everyone is skating, all of them are skating on modern hockey blades. Some of the people can be seen with white plastic blade attachments.

Quotes:

Ngawang Jigme: Hello, my friend. We did what was best for our country, for Tibet.
Heinrich Harrer: On the way to Lhasa I would see Tibetans wearing those jackets. 'Chinese soldiers very nice. Give food, clothes and money. Very nice.' It's strange to me that something so harmless as a jacket can symbolize such a great lie.
Ngawang Jigme: After all these years you still don't understand our Tibetan ways. To return a gift is unforgivable.
Heinrich Harrer: A man who betrays his culture shouldn't preach about its customs. There was a time I would have wished you dead but your shame will be your torture and your torture will be your life. I wish it to be long.

Movie Connections:

Version of Seven Years in Tibet (1956)

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?