Austrian mountaineer, Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces’ hands as a prisoner of war. He escapes with a fellow detainee and makes his way to Llaso, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.
<%%item_is_not_adult%%
Credits: TheMovieDb.
Film Cast:
- Heinrich Harrer: Brad Pitt
- Dalai Lama, 14 Years Old: Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk
- Peter Aufschnaiter: David Thewlis
- Ngawang Jigme: BD Wong
- Kungo Tsarong: Mako
- Pema Lhaki: Lhakpa Tsamchoe
- Ingrid Harrer: Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė
- British Officer: Duncan Fraser
- Regent: Danny Denzongpa
- Chinese ‘Amban’: Victor Wong
- Great Mother: Jetsun Pema
- Tashi: Ama Ashe Dongtse
- Dalai Lama, 8 Years Old: Sonam Wangchuk
- Dalai Lama, 4 Years Old: Dorjee Tsering
- General Chang Jing Wu: Ric Young
- Lord Chamberlain (as Ven. Ngawang Chojor): Ngawang Chojor
- Nazi Official: Benedick Blythe
- Lutz Chicken: Tom Raudaschl
- Hans Lobenhoffer: Wolfgang Tonninger
- The Garpon: Samdup Dhargyal
- Garpon’s Agent: Chemchok
- Declaration Monk Official (as Ven. Tenzin Jangschub): Tenzin Jangchub
- Tibetan General (as Major Angphurba Sherpa): Angphurba Sherpa
- Burly Guide: Tsering Wangdue
- Burly Guide: Yama Ngudup Cheshatsang
- Vendor Ice-Skates: Kalsang Dhundop Lungtok
- Jacket Vendor: Sonam Bidhartsang
- Watch Vendor: Lama Champa Tsondu
- Ling Rinpoche: Geshe Lobsang Nyma
- Trijang Rinpoche: Geshe Yeshi Tsultrim
- Dalai Lama’s Room Attendant: Lama Champa Chandu
- Young Sherpa: Pemba Norbu Sherpa
- Messenger to Great Mother: Karma Apo-Tsang
- Jokhang Monk Official (as Ven. Ngawang Tenzin Gyatso): Ngawang Tenzingyatso
- Military Instructor: Choeden Tsering
- Monk Head of Security: Lama Jampa Lekshe
- Head of Security’s Aide: Lama Thupten Nugdup
- Marchese: Daniel Tedeschi
- Horst Immerhof: Gerardo Ebert
- Younger Rolf Harrer: Sebastian Zevalia
- Older Rolf Harrer: Philipp Kriechbaum
- Tibetan: Lobsang Gendun Rinpoche
- Tibetan: Tenzin Gyaltsen Rinpoche
- Tibetan: Sharpa Tulku Rinpoche
- Tibetan: Zongra Tulku Rinpoche
Film Crew:
- Original Music Composer: John Williams
- Producer: Iain Smith
- Casting: Francine Maisler
- Producer: Jean-Jacques Annaud
- Director of Photography: Robert Fraisse
- Casting: Priscilla John
- Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
- Still Photographer: David Appleby
- Producer: John H. Williams
- Editor: Noëlle Boisson
- Novel: Heinrich Harrer
- Screenplay: Becky Johnston
- Production Design: Hoang Thanh At
- Costume Design: Enrico Sabbatini
- Electrician: Mark ‘Rocky’ Evans
Movie Reviews:
- Wuchak: _**Twelve years in the Tibet area, 1939-1951**_
“Seven Years in Tibet” (1997) is a biographical historical drama about Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt) and his time in Tibet and friendship with the Dalai Lama, a boy, just before & during WW2, as well as the build-up to the invasion of Tibet in 1950 by Communist Chinese forces and the immediate aftermath. David Thewlis is on hand as Heinrich’s German mountaineer friend.
The movie’s similar to other realistic walk-to-salvation wilderness adventures, like “The Way Back” (2010). Pitt is charismatic as the pompous mountaineer who is slowly humbled in the highest region of the globe. The movie couldn’t be made today since it paints the Chinese Communist Party in a negative light; in other words, it’s truthful.
The film runs 2 hours, 16 minutes and the bulk of it was shot in Argentina at the city of La Plata and the Andes Mountains in the Mendoza Province, while about 20 minutes of footage was secretly shot in Tibet.
GRADE: B